Closing the Deal
by xbleeple
Summary: The Flynn kids start to vacate the nest while their parents deal with the impact of a new squad at work. Starting with the Closer and working our way through to Major Crimes. [Sequel to Momentum, Two to Tango, Die with You, and Heat of the Moment]
1. Chapter 1

**Notes:** Welcome to the next installment of the series! As far as time we're sitting in April of 2005 - about 2 months before Brenda comes to LA and the Priority Murder Squad in June. This is going to be more of a standard story instead of the "moments" we did in the last part. Let me know what thoughts are as we kick off! Thanks!

* * *

Andy lets out a grunt as the foot connects with his chest, kicking him with enough force to force all of the air from his lungs. His back connects harshly with the railing before his weight carries him over the edge. The short free fall to the floor only takes an instant but it feels like forever as he tries to draw a breath in that moment. If anyone asked him later he would have sworn he could feel every empty space in his body compress and hear the crack of bone when his back hit the tile floor. His head snapped back in the next few milliseconds and smacked against the surface with even more force, sending a sharp pain through his head before causing him to black out.

Across town Sharon wakes with a start and a quickly drawn breath. Her hand flings out and grips the other side of the bed, her eyes wild when she finds Frank's soft fur and not her husband's solid chest before she relaxes when she remembers Andy was working late. She sighs as she wrestles herself out of the tight swaddle of sheets she had managed to work herself into before taking a few deep breaths to calm her frantic heart. She listens to the tick of the clock and the quiet of the night for a few moments before jumping when the phone begins to ring, assaulting the silence. She quickly picks up the handset and lifts it to her ear.

"Hello?" She murmurs as she sits up a little more. Her fingers curl tighter as she listens to the voice on the other end, "What hospital were they taking him to? … Thank you."

Sharon hangs up the phone and swings the covers to the side, getting out of bed. She quickly makes her way into the closet and grabs a pair of jeans to put on along with a pair of sneakers. She dresses and throws her hair into a messy bun, grabbing her glasses off the bedside table before rushing down the hallway towards the front door. Her purse is quickly slung over her shoulder and she scribbles out a note for the kids before hanging it on the fridge in the place they knew to look.

When they had decided they no longer needed to call a babysitter at nights when they left Sharon had established a specific place for notes on the fridge so the kids knew exactly where to look for information if their parents both had to leave in the middle of the night. Sharon grabs her car keys before quietly making her way down the stairs and out to the garage. She manages to leave the house as quietly as possible and make her way to the hospital they had taken Andy to. The car gets parked in the lot outside of the emergency room and she takes a moment, staring at the red signage for the emergency bay. It had been a few years since she'd been called to the hospital for her husband. None of the other incidents had been as bad as him getting shot in '92, mostly just for her to come pick him up and take him home. But it had still been a few years, none the less, and this one sounded bad. She manages to drag herself out of the car before making her way inside and to the nurses station.

"Can I help you?" The nurse asks.

"My husband was brought in earlier," Sharon tells her, "Andrew Flynn?"

"It looks like he's been admitted," The nurse tells her after typing into the computer in front of her, "His room is on the fourth floor, but he's currently in radiology for testing."

"Do you know what happened?" Sharon asks, "I was only told that he was injured in pursuit of a suspect."

"On his file it says that he sustained a fall…doesn't say how high though…" The nurse reads, "He was unconscious still when EMS got to him, but woke up en route. 4581 is his room number."

"Thank you," Sharon offers a strained smile before making her way towards the elevator. She punches the button for the fourth floor once she gets into the elevator car, her foot tapping anxiously against the floor as she watches the numbers climb. Once she steps out she takes a moment to read the signs before heading in the direction of the room number that the nurse had given to her. She mumbles the number quietly as she walks through the hall and counts the number plaques. Sharon sighs softly and walks a little faster when she sees his partner, Brian Waters, sitting outside one of the rooms, "Brian."

"Sharon, thank god," Brian responds as he stands up from his chair.

"How is he?" Sharon asks as she gets closer.

"They took him down to radiology to do some scans. I thought it would be good to wait for you here," He explains as they step into the empty room, "He took a pretty nasty fall."

"What happened?"

"We were in pursuit of a suspect, Andy was taking point. He followed the guy up the stairs and got kicked over the bannister on one of the landings. It was probably…eight feet or so," Brian describes to her, "Hit the ground pretty hard."

"What about his neck?"

"They didn't think he'd broken his neck, that's why they were taking him to radiology. To get confirmation of his injuries," He recaps. Sharon nods and sighs, chewing on her thumbnail, "Oh, I grabbed these for you. So they didn't get lost."

"Thank you," Sharon replies as Brian holds out a manilla envelope to her. She takes it from him and peers inside to find Andy's wallet and jewelry. She rolls the envelope up and tucks it in her purse before looking up as Andy's bed is wheeled back into the room, his doctor following close behind.

"You must be Andy's wife," The doctor comments as he offers his hand out to Sharon while the nurses get him settled and hooked back up to the monitors, "Doctor Anderson."

"Yes, Sharon, nice to meet you," Sharon responds as she shakes his hand before looking over at Andy's sleeping form. She could tell he was in pain from the furrow in his brow and the way his hands were clenched at his side, "How is he doing?"

"Pretty well given the fall he took. We just did some scans down in radiology, so I can give you more of a visual to help describe what's going on," The doctor tells Sharon before getting out one of the films that he had brought with and sticking it up on the light board before turning it on, "This is the xray we took of his chest. You can see right here that the kick to the sternum left some hairline fractures to the bone itself as well as a couple of the middle ribs. His back is another story..."

Sharon watches as he switches out the xray with three other films before starting to talk again, "Andy sustained most injuries to his back. He has a slight dislocation between his T12 and his L1, most likely where his back hit the railing after he was kicked. It's also caused some bruising on his kidneys. And then he has some fracturing on T8 through 10..."

"He broke his back is what you're saying," Sharon interrupts, her arms wrapping tighter around herself.

"Don't be alarmed," He reassures her, "I know I'm using words like fracture and dislocation, but Andy is not going to be experiencing any paralysis from this fall. There's swelling through the spinal column but that's to be expected. The cord is intact and unharmed."

"Okay, so he has a dislocated disc...and then three of them have fractures," Sharon repeats.

"Right, there's a bit more rib fracturing in the back as well. Between the impact on the front and then hitting the floor on the back, I'm concerned about some internal bruising. It doesn't seem like there is any bleeding at the moment, but things could change," The doctor indicates on the film, "Luckily it doesn't look like he has much in the way of cranial injuries outside of a pretty serious concussion."

"What does it mean as far as treatment and recovery?" Sharon asks.

"Right now we have him sedated. Your husband was able to tell us he didn't want opioid pain relief when he was brought in," he explains.

"He's a recovering alcoholic," Sharon shares, "He doesn't like taking opiates with his history of addiction."

"I'd like to keep him here for a couple days, make sure that the swelling goes down and that we don't have any spontaneous bleeds. It'll also give us time to make sure we develop the right kind of pain management plan for when he is discharged. When he does go home he's going to be in a brace to maintain the stability of his injuries and help him heal."

"How long before he's a hundred percent again?"

"At least eight weeks with the brace, and he'll need some physical therapy after that," Doctor Anderson explains as he pulls down the films, "I wouldn't be comfortable being more firm on dates until Andy starts to heal."

"Of course," Sharon nods, "Is there anything else?"

"Not right now. We'll be in and out, but press the call button if he starts to wake up. We don't want him to come too far out right now, but we do want to see how the pain management is working."

"Thank you, Doctor Anderson, for the thorough explanation," Sharon offers a small, weak smile.

"Of course," The doctor smiles and shakes Sharon's hand again before leaving the room. Sharon sighs and turns around to stand closer to the bed, reaching down to take Andy's hand in hers, her thumb trailing softy over his knuckles.

"Sharon, is there anything else that I can do for you?" Brian asks.

"No. I think I'm okay right now. Thank you though."

"I'll come back later in the morning to see how he's doing," Brian assures her, "But call me if you need anything, or if anything changes."

"I will," Sharon nods. Brian squeezes her shoulder before leaving the room, pulling the door closed behind himself. She lets go of Andy for a moment to pull a chair closer to the bed before sitting down and taking his hand in hers again, "Oh Andrew, Andrew, Andrew."

Sharon sits next to Andy's bed with her head propped up on her free hand. She sighs softly as she watches him sleep, eventually succumbing herself. She manages to get a few z's in before she wakes up to fingers in her hair and a thumb stroking over her temple. Reaching up, she covers Andy's hand and squeezes before sitting up and looking at him.

"Hi," She whispers, "How are you feeling?"

"Bad," Andy grounds out, "My back…"

"You're pretty banged up, even for you," Sharon replies as she reaches over to press the call button, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah," Andy mumbles and wraps his fingers around Sharon's hand, squeezing tight. She squeezes back and rubs his arm softly.

"I know you don't want to take any opiates, and the doctor's going to work with you on a pain management system, but…"

"Nuh uh," Andy groans.

"Andy, you have fractured discs in your spine, your ribs have fractures in both the front and back…You need to be able to heal," Sharon tells him.

"No," Andy growls, his hand tightening around hers as the doctor comes in with a nurse.

"Mister Flynn, it's good to see you awake," The doctor comments, "How are you feeling?"

"Not too great," Sharon answers as she looks at the doctor, "He seems to be in a lot of pain."

"We'll hopefully be able to take the edge off here in a moment," The doctor replies, checking Andy's chart before flipping the end of his sheets back, "Andy, can you wiggle your toes for me?"

"Wiggle my toes?"

"You have had quite a bit of back injury, we just want to make sure everything is in working order."

"It's just a check," Sharon tells him in a quiet voice and smoothes her hand over his forehead. She watches as he wiggles his toes a little bit before grunting and tensing with a curse. She shushes him quietly and brushes her thumb over his brow, smoothing out the pained wrinkles there, "Relax…"

"The short version of what we've diagnosed you with," The doctor starts, "is three fractured discs, a mild dislocation, about a dozen hairline fractures through your ribcage and sternum, and a concussion. And that's all on top of some bruised kidneys and muscle strain as well."

"That's all?" Andy grinds out, attempting some humor.

"It's going to be a rough few weeks ahead, but the good news is that we're not seeing any signs of paralysis, and you don't have any cranial or internal bleeds. We're going to do what we can with some non-opiate pain medication and some light sedatives for now, but if the pain begins to get out of control I want you to consider switching to…"

"No," Andy's head twitches to the side slightly, "No."

Sharon shakes her head as the doctor opens his mouth to argue. She sits up more and presses a kiss to Andy's hand as she looks down at him, "I'm gonna be here okay? But you need to rest and you need to heal."

"It fucking hurts," Andy chokes out.

"I know," Sharon murmurs as the doctor takes Andy's IV and slowly adds an additional injection to it. Andy's eyes quickly droop closed and his body relaxes into the bed. She kisses his hand once more before setting it down on the bed, keeping a hold on it.

"The doses we are giving him right now are small so we can continue to monitor his concussion. Later tomorrow morning we'll want to get him fitted for a back brace and then actually get him up out of bed."

"Out of bed so soon?"

"The longer he stays in bed the more he's going to have to make up on the back end," The doctor tells her. Sharon nods and sighs as she looks at her husband's sleeping form, "Press the call button if you need anything."

"Thank you."

Andy ends up spending three days in the hospital before he's released to go home and recover on medical leave. The doctor had projected at minimum six weeks of leave to the department before he'd be able to return on desk duty and referred Andy to a specialist that would help take him through his recovery.

Sharon sighs as she helps him settle on the couch and put his feet up before standing in front of him with her hands on her hips as Frank dashes into the room and hops up into his lap.

"He's missed you," She comments as Andy ruffles the cat's ears.

"I think the feeling is mutual," Andy mumbles as he drops his head back. His concussion was still playing with his ability to stay awake for long periods. Getting signed out of the hospital and listening to all of the instructions from the doctor had been mentally taxing and had drained a lot of his energy stores, "You didn't have to take the whole day off."

"We're not having this discussion again," Sharon shakes her head and rolls her eyes as she goes to grab a blanket out of a trunk they kept in the living room, "You're stuck with me until next Monday."

"We have to move three kids across the country at the end of the summer," Andy reminds her. Nicole was coming home for the summer and would need to be moved back to Philadelphia before school started again while Charlie was planning on attending Florida on a swim scholarship. Emily had been accepted into the Tisch at NYU to study dance and was ecstatic about the opportunity. But with the three of them going across the country to college, Sharon and Andy already had two weeks booked off in August to make sure that they had adequate time to get everyone packed and where they needed to be and graduation was in a month and a half.

"And I can still afford to take the time off to make sure you don't paralyze yourself trying to do something stupid while you're at home alone," Sharon retorts as she shakes the blanket out over him, "You still have a decent concussion and shouldn't be on your own anyway."

"You just want to baby me," Andy teases.

"Yes that is exactly what I want to do when I take time off work," Sharon rolls her eyes before leaning down and pressing a kiss to his lips, "Do you need anything right now?"

"No, I'm good," Andy replies, "I'm gonna take a nap."

"Okay," Sharon smiles and brushes his hair back from his forehead. She presses a kiss to his temple before standing up straight, "I'm going to do some paperwork, so just yell if you need me."

"I always need you," Andy grins tiredly.

"I need you too," Sharon smiles at him, stroking her hand over his cheek, "So maybe try not to get kicked down any more stairs."

"I'll see what I can do," And groans softly, "I can't say I'm enjoying it myself."

"Sleep," Sharon murmurs, "Heal."

"Mmmm," Andy hums and closes his eyes. Sharon presses another kiss to his forehead before going to her work bag and grabbing a bundle of files out of it. She sits down at the desk in the living room and flips the small lamp on before getting to work. She manages to get through a decent amount of her files before she stumbles across a memo that had been stuffed in with everything else.

Her eyes scan the page, picking out key words, 'leadership position', 'Captain or higher', 'high profile murders', 'special division'. Sharon bites her lip and looks over at Andy's sleeping form before folding the paper up and tucking it into another folder. She gets up and turns the light off before moving over to the couch and sinking down next to her husband, turning the tv on low.

Sharon's eyes start to get droopy themselves towards the end of the movie she was watching before she jolts as the phone starts to ring. Her eyes flick to the clock, noting that it was a little after three and that the kids should be home soon. She hears Andy start to stir as she gets up from the couch and goes to the kitchen to grab the handset.

"Hello?"

"Hi Sharon," Vicky replies, her tone surprisingly clipped, though Sharon suspected it wasn't directed at her, "Can I talk to Andy?"

"Mmm, let me check, he was just waking up," Sharon replies as she walks back through to the living room before holding her hand over the mouthpiece, "It's Vicky."

"I'll take it," Andy yawns and holds his hand out for the phone, taking it from his wife before wincing as he sits up a little more.

"You should probably lay down all the way for a bit today," Sharon tells him, her eyes narrowing as he rolls his eyes slightly with a nod.

"Hey Vick, ow!" Andy yelps as Sharon pinches his arm before walking off.

"Do you want to tell my why our son is now telling me that he wants to go to USC and become a cop?"

"He what?" Andy asks, turning his attention fully to the phone.

"He just got home from school and says he doesn't want to go to Florida anymore. He wants to go to USC and I quote 'get a degree in something and go to the academy'. Did you put him up to this?"

"No!" Andy responds, "I think I've done a pretty good job of dissuading any of the kids from trying to be police officers…at least I thought I did."

"Andrew…"

"What does it matter at this point? Kids change their majors all the time, Nicole has changed hers twice this year."

"Because you just got out of the hospital for getting kicked down the stairs! I've lost track of how many times you've been in the hospital over the years, not to mention how often you've been shot at or beaten up. How could you want that for your son!?"

"I don't _want_ that for him, but it's four years from now. He could change his mind."

"He _could_ , but that boy inherited your stubbornness so I find that highly doubtful."

"Arguing about this over the phone isn't going to do any good," Andy replies as he runs his hand over his face, "Just…leave it for now. If you keep pushing he'll dig his heels in about the whole thing. Come over with him tomorrow and the three of us can talk."

"Fine," Vicky grumbles before heaving a sigh, "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got kicked down the stairs," Andy replies dryly.

"Mmm, how's the nurse situation?"

"Not too bad right now," Andy replies as he tilts his head and watches his wife bend over and ruffle through a laundry basket she had sitting at the top of the stairs.

"Try not to paralyze yourself, Andrew."

"I thought I was doing a good job of that," Andy sighs dramatically before letting out a chuckle, "It'll be fine, Vic."

"It better be or I'm not beyond blaming both of you."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Andy responds before hanging up and tossing the phone down next to him with a groan.

"What was that about?" Sharon asks as she drops some clothes into an empty basket.

"Apparently Charlie doesn't want to go to Florida anymore. He wants to go to USC and enroll in the academy afterward."

"The LAPD academy?" Sharon questions as she stops what she's doing and turns around to face her husband.

"Apparently," Andy shrugs before wincing, "They were going to come over tomorrow so we can talk."

"You don't sound too concerned," Sharon notes as her arms cross in front of her.

"He wants to go to college first. He could change his mind. He could not change his mind. He could move into more of an administrative position after patrol."

" _After_ patrol. He still has to go on patrol before he can move up. And Flynns don't tend to ride desks well in case you haven't looked in the mirror lately."

"I'll be concerned if he goes through with it, but until I talk to him and he signs up…I don't see the point of worrying when things could change."

"Hmmm," Sharon hums, dropping her arms and leaning down to gather the laundry she'd separated, "Charlie changes his mind about as often as you do."

* * *

[TBC]


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes:** Thanks to everyone who checked out the last chapter and made it over! Please read and review :D

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After spending a quiet evening with the kids Andy managed to get Sharon to let him take his brace off long enough to take a shower.

"Let me help you," Sharon offers in a quiet voice. She helps him out of the brace and puts it on the bed before unbuttoning the broken in dress shirt she'd brought for him to get dressed in that morning. A sorrowful sigh escapes her lips as she reveals the bruising that was mottling his chest and back before reaching out to gently skim her fingers over the aching skin. Andy grabs her hand after a moment.

"I'll be okay. It's just going to take a while."

"I know," Sharon nods and sighs. She presses a soft kiss to his chest over his heart before helping him finish undressing and get into the shower, "I'm going to get ready for bed, yell if you need anything."

"I will," Andy winks at her and pulls the shower door closed. Sharon makes her way to the closet and gets out her pajamas as well as a set for Andy. She gets changed and drops her clothes into the dirty laundry before she hears the water turn off, "Hey Shar? Can you grab me a towel?"

"Sure," Sharon grabs a towel from the small linen closet before bringing it over to him. Andy groans and wraps the towel around his waist before shuffling into the bedroom. She helps him get dressed and gives him one of the pills the doctor had prescribed. They weren't anything heavy duty but they took the edge off and were supposed to him sleep at night. He sets the glass back down on his bedside table and lets out another groan as he gets settled in bed, down to one pillow so he could lay as flat as possible.

"God, so much better than that damn hospital bed."

"I hope so for what we paid for this mattress," Sharon comments with a small laugh, turning the lights off. Frank hops up onto the bed and curls up next to Andy's hip to claim his spot before she can lay down. She climbs into her side of the bed and stretches out, trying to get comfortable without wrapping her body around Andy's. Eventually she ends up rolled away from him and curled up on her side, her hand curled up against her chest as the other was stretched under her pillow.

"What's our retirement goal?" Andy asks after a few quiet moments.

"What?" Sharon responds, rolling over onto her other side to face Andy.

"What's our retirement goal?" Andy repeats, turning his head to look at her, "I turn 50 this year. I know we want to get all of the kids through college before we retire so that takes us to…what? 2017?"

"Yeah, 2017."

"Then what?"

"Then we evaluate. You know we look at the investments every year, once we get the kids taken care of we'll start evaluating at work. By the time 2017 rolls around we'll both be eligible to collect maximum benefits. The kids will be out of the house. The house will be paid off…and I'm sure we'll be more than ready to get the hell out of there," Sharon grins. She reaches over and strokes Andy's chest softly, trying not to disturb his injuries, "I know you're in pain right now…"

"That's not it," Andy shakes his head slightly and sighs, "I'm turning 50 and I'm still getting kicked down the stairs. I just…"

"Honey, if you want to retire - retire. We can make it work…I don't want you to stick around and do something you don't want to because we had a plan," Sharon tells him, "In case you haven't noticed, not too many things go according to plan around here."

"I don't want to retire…I've just been thinking about what's left," Andy replies, "That's it."

"All you have to do is say the word," Sharon reminds him.

"I know." Sharon leans over and presses a soft kiss to Andy's lips before getting comfortable again.

"I love you," She murmurs.

"I love you too."

In the morning, Andy groans as he sinks down at the dining room table with a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs and toast. Emily's brow furrows as she looks across the table at her father, chewing over a bite of cereal.

"Daddy, are you sure you should be home from the hospital already?" She asks after swallowing, "You look like you barely slept last night."

"He didn't," Sharon says as she zips lunch bags into the twins' backpacks before setting Emily's and Ricky's down on the table. Andy had tossed all night before giving up around four and going out to the living room. She had found him sitting up on the couch fast asleep with the tv on when she'd gotten up at six to run. She'd only managed a couple laps of their block with Lyla before returning home to make breakfast for the kids and wake her husband.

"I'm fine, honey," Andy directs at Emily, "It's just going to take a while to heal."

"You guys need to hurry up and eat or you'll be late for school," Sharon reminds the kids before disappearing back into the kitchen to clean up. She kisses each of them as they filter through the kitchen a few moments later, on their way out the door. Mornings had gotten more streamlined since Emily had turned 18 and was able to start driving everyone to school. They knew it was only going to be for a school year, but it still helped out a bit, "Don't forget that Libby has piano after school and Drew is staying for some quiz team thing."

"How late?" Emily asks

"Four thirty?" Sharon tells her.

"Okay," Emily nods and presses a kiss to her mother's cheek before grabbing the car keys and following her siblings out to the garage. Sharon hangs up the dish towel in her hand and steps out to the dining room, topping Andy's coffee mug off before sitting down next to him. His plate was mostly empty and he was dragging his toast through the last of the egg yolk coating the white ceramic.

"Better after some breakfast?" Sharon asks.

"Little bit," Andy grumbles as he stuffs the last bite in his mouth. She runs her hand up his back and her fingers through the hair at the base of his neck.

"Why don't you take another one of the pills the doctor gave you and try to get comfortable on the couch? I need to run to the store and drop some things off at work," Sharon suggests, "It'll be quiet, you can take a nap."

"What about you? I'm sure you didn't get much rest last night."

"I'll be fine," Sharon replies quietly, "I can take a bit of a nap later if I need to."

"Okay," Andy sighs and nods. Sharon grabs his plate and takes it into the kitchen, rinsing it off before putting it in the dishwasher. She pads down to the bedroom and grabs his pill bottle before bringing it out to him. Andy shakes one of the pills out into his palm before tossing it back with a swallow of coffee. He puts his mug and the bottle down on the coffee table and stretches out on the couch. She pulls the blanket off the back and drapes it over him before offering him a smile, "I'm tired of having to be nursed back to health."

"I'd say stop getting hurt," Sharon fires back without a beat, "But that doesn't seem to be your style."

"No apparently not," Andy drops his head back and reaches out for the remote to turn the tv on.

"Anything you want from the store?"

"No," Andy shakes his head.

"Okay, I'll have my phone on me. I shouldn't be too long," Sharon tells him before pressing a kiss to his lips. She grabs her work bag and her purse before heading downstairs to the garage. Andy flips through a few channels before finding a movie to watch, quickly drifting off to sleep soon after he starts watching.

Sharon finds him still asleep when she gets back with Lyla laying on the floor next to the couch and Frank stretched out on the back. After putting the groceries away she makes herself a small snack before grabbing a book and calling Lyla's name softly, taking the dog out to the backyard. She settles in the hammock as the dog does a few laps of the yard before sprawling out on the grass in the sun. She sways back and forth for a while, reading and snacking before her eyes start to droop. She marks her page in the book and leans her head back, enjoying as the sun filters through the leaves of the trees and warms her skin.

Sharon starts awake a couple hours later when she feels a hand on her arm. A smile eases across her lips as she sees Andy standing above her, turning her hand over in his.

"Hey there handsome."

"Hey beautiful," Andy smiles back, "I made some lunch if you're hungry."

"You didn't have to do that."

"It was good to stand for a bit. Doc did say to move around a bit," Andy responds, stepping back so she can get out of the hammock. He takes her book and snack plate for her and makes his way back inside, putting the book on the coffee table before putting the plate into the dishwasher. He brings out two bowls to the dining room table as Sharon shuts the screen door behind her.

"What's on the menu?"

"Salad, someone went to the store," Andy grins and holds out a fork to her.

"Mmm that was nice of them," Sharon smiles and takes the fork before sitting down with him and starting to eat, "Have you thought about what you're going to say to Charlie?"

"Say to him? I don't know that I'm going to _say_ anything. If the kid wants to be a cop…" Andy shrugs, "He's being presented with some pretty harsh facts here. I'm 49 years old and I'm in a back brace with a broken spine and broken ribs. In his lifetime I've been shot, I've been stabbed, I don't even know how my ribcage holds itself together anymore…but I help people. That's why we keep going back isn't it."

"It is," Sharon nods.

"I like what I do, and if he has a good reason for wanting to do it I'm not going to stop him."

"Okay."

"And in four years when he hasn't changed his mind, I can yell at him then," Andy grins, "I just really don't have the volume in me right now."

Sharon laughs softly and shakes her head. The two finish their lunch with Andy clearing away their dishes before grunting as he sinks back down onto the couch. She joins him after topping off her glass with iced tea, sinking onto the cushion next to him.

"We have a couple hours before anyone is home, what do you want to do?"

"I picked up a few movies you'd mentioned wanting to see while I was out," Sharon offers, "We could watch one of those if you want."

"You did?"

"Mmhm," Sharon nods, leaning forward to grab a few DVD cases off of the table, "Let's see…Suspect Zero, Oceans Twelve, Blade Trinity, though I know Ricky said he wanted to see that too…I got Sideways, I thought we could watch that together at some point…oh and I just bought the Incredibles for the twins…"

"Sounds like a couple more than few," Andy grins.

"Next time you're injured you can see to your own entertainment," Sharon mock glares at him.

"I think they all sound great," Andy kisses her head before grabbing Sideways out of her hand, "How about we watch this one?"

"Sure," Sharon smiles and kisses him before getting up to put the movie in. She sets the other movies on the entertainment center and looks over her shoulder at her husband, "I can practically feel your eyes burning into my back side."

"I can hardly touch right now, might as well enjoy looking," Andy replies with an arch of his eyebrow. She rolls her eyes and finishes putting the movie in before moving back to the couch and sinking down next to her husband.

"Someone at work was telling me about this new movie thing they've been using lately. It's called Net-something…Apparently you pay them a monthly fee and you get mailed three movies at a time, but you can check out unlimited movies a month and keep them as long as you want. They're supposed to have a pretty extensive library too."

"Sounds cheaper than our usual movie budget," Andy comments as he fast forwards through the previews.

"I'll have to see if I can find it online later," She murmurs as he finally makes it to the menu before starting the movie. Shuffling a little closer to Andy she wraps her fingers around his and holds his hand since she was unable to snuggle into his side. The movie manages to draw quite a few laughs from Sharon and even a few chuckles from Andy, making him wince every time.

"Maybe a comedy wasn't the best pick," Andy comments as the credits start to roll, groaning softly as he holds onto his side.

"Oh honey," Sharon sympathizes as she sits up a little bit more, "Here take another one of these…"

"I'm fine," Andy shakes his head as she reaches out for the pill bottle.

"You need to stay on top of the pain," Sharon reprimands as she hands him a pill, "At least for now until you start getting better."

"Fine," Andy grumbles as he takes the pill and finishes off her glass of water. The two of them sit up as they hear the front door open.

"Mom we can't just barge in! Do you know what happens when you barge in on Sharon and Dad?" Charlie's voice echoes through the house, "You end up going blind from seeing things you shouldn't ever _ever_ see."

"Don't be so dramatic, Charlie," Vicky replies.

"If you would have just learned how to knock it wouldn't have been an issue," Sharon grins at the boy as he rounds the corner with his mother, "Hi Vicky."

"Hi Sharon," Vicky responds. Sharon gets up from the couch and presses a kiss to Andy's mouth.

"I am going to get started on dinner and I'll let you three talk."

"I don't understand why we have to even talk," Charlie groans, his head flipping back. Sharon smiles slightly as she pats the boy on the shoulder before heading into the kitchen. He was tall, matching Andy inch for inch in height just as he matched him ounce for ounce in attitude. He had broad shoulders from years of swimming and a lanky form that was well toned. Physically, Charlie would make a good cop. And Sharon knew with some decent training he would make a good one mentally.

"We need to talk because with seemingly no provocation you came home yesterday and told me that you wanted to change schools and become a cop after you graduate," Vicky starts as she sits on the edge of one of the chairs, "You have _never_ expressed interest in being a cop."

"That's not true! I've said tons of times I thought it would be interesting. I've shown interest in what Dad does."

" _Your father_ has a broken back right now. He's lucky he wasn't paralyzed," Vicky responds, "He's been shot twice, he's been stabbed or sliced open more times than I can count…"

"He's also been doing it for over 25 years. Statistically stuff is going to happen!"

"And I don't want you to become a statistic!"

"Tell me what you want to do," Andy says, his surprisingly calm voice breaking between the two of them.

"What I'm _going_ to do is go to USC instead of Florida. I called the swim coach the other day and he said there's a scholarship still available for me. I rescinded from Florida and went over to campus and paid my acceptance fee and signed the paperwork over lunch today. Right now I'm signed up as a poly sci major," Charlie explains, "I get my degree in four years and after that I enroll in the academy. The recruiter that I talked to said it was better for me to get a degree now than try to do it later, I have to be at least twenty to enroll anyway. And it will open more positions for me and give me time to get ready for the physical fitness test."

"But what do you want to _do_?"

"I wanna help people…I want to protect them," Charlie explains, looking down as he picks at the edge of the couch, "Ideally I want to get into SWAT…"

"SWAT? Jesus, Charlie," Andy shakes his head, "How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Couple years…I thought I could go to Florida and come back you know? Do it then. But I want to stay here," Charlie replies as he looks back up with a sigh, "I don't mean _here_ , but LA you know…Do the dorm thing still, get an apartment, but I want to stay in LA."

"Okay."

"Okay?! That's it? That's all you have to say?" Vicky breaks in.

"He's an adult," Andy reminds her before eyeballing his son, "He'll be good at it, unfortunately. Though you're probably not doing yourself any favors joining the LAPD with my last name…"

"Figure it'll be a challenge," Charlie shrugs with a grin.

"There's a reason Sharon never changed her last name at work," Andy laughs, hearing a chuckle come from the kitchen as well, "Are you eavesdropping in there?"

"Me? Never," Sharon responds before stepping into the kitchen doorway visible from the living room. There was a dish towel draped over her shoulder and she had a paring knife in hand, "For what it's worth I think the LAPD would be lucky to have you as an officer."

"Thanks Sharon," Charlie smiles.

"Are you two staying for dinner? I was cutting up some fish to marinate and put on the grill once the kids get home," Sharon offers.

"I'm supposed to be meeting Ty and Danielle to work on a history paper," Charlie shrugs apologetically, "We were going to grab burgers."

"That's okay," Sharon smiles.

"I was going to come tomorrow night though, picked up a couple new games Ricky and I have been meaning to play."

"He needs to finish his homework before you start anything," Sharon reminds him, "And if you can let Drew play a little…"

"We will," Charlie nods.

"Alright," Sharon smiles, "Vicky, you're welcome to stay."

"Mmm fish does sound tempting but Dan and I are having dinner with his boss tonight," Vicky comments as she stands, "But thank you for the offer."

"No problem. Char, have a good night with your friends, and I'll see you tomorrow," Sharon winks before retreating back into the kitchen. Andy grunts as he pushes himself up off of the couch, taking a steadying breath as he stands up fully.

"Come on, I'll walk you guys out," He offers, "Need to check the mail anyway."

"Dad you don't have to do that," Charlie protests.

"I need the exercise," Andy assures him as he walks his son and his ex-wife outside. Vicky unlocks the car and walks around to her side as Charlie stands in front of his father, eyeing him up slowly.

"You're going to be okay right?" He asks quietly.

"It'll be a while before I'm in fighting form again, but I'll be fine," Andy nods. He pats at the brace wrapped around his torso and mock grimaces, "I could do without the brace though…"

"It's pretty gnarly looking…" Charlie chuckles, "Almost like a suit of armor."

"Well. I'm no Iron Man," Andy grins, "I'd hug you but…"

"That's okay, Sharon would kick my ass if I broke you any more," Charlie holds his hands up as he backs towards the car, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Andy nods. He waves the two of them off before continuing his walk to the mailbox.

* * *

[TBC]


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes:** Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter - glad you are enjoying this. I'm expecting we'll finally meet Brenda in the next chapter. Please continues to read and review!

* * *

Andy looks up as a shadow shows up to his right before his friend sits down next to him, immediately sticking his hand in the bag of peanuts in his hands.

"Where's Ricky?" Provenza asks as he starts to shell the handful of nuts he'd taken.

"In the dugout. Should be up to bat soon," Andy responds, "What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd take in a baseball game."

"They're hardly the Dodgers. Did you come from work?" Andy asks, noting Provenza's button up shirt and slacks. His tie was slack around his neck and he had on his trusty white bucket hat.

"Yeah, just got off. Pope's sniffing around."

"Sniffing around?" Andy pulls his attention away from the game, "What do you mean sniffing around?"

"He's been calling people into his office, interviewing them," Provenza describes, "Sanchez says he heard from someone that he's trying to put together some 'elite' homicide squad to deal with high profile cases."

"What's wrong with the way we deal with them?"

"Apparently costing the department too much money and bad press…" Provenza shrugs.

"Has he talked to you?"

"Yesterday afternoon. After Sanchez."

"What's Taylor said?" Andy asks.

"Surprisingly quiet," Provenza arches his eyebrow as he looks over at Andy. Andy frowns and looks back to the game, watching as his son steps out of the dugout to go to bat. Ricky strikes once and gets two balls before he makes contact and drives the ball deep into center field, breaking off into a quick run. Andy stands and lets out a few piercing whistles as he cheers Ricky on to second base. Once the play stops he sits back down and grumbles as he pulls at his brace.

"Sick of wearing this thing. You don't think Pope's going to pull Taylor to run it?"

"Rumor has it the memo that went around said Captain or higher, but also that it was a pity posting."

"A pity posting?"

"Pope already knew who he wanted for the position, but had to post it anyway."

"If it was Captain or higher Sharon should have gotten the memo…She didn't say anything about it." Provenza shrugs as he munches on his stolen peanuts, keeping an eye on the game.

"He's pretty good you know? This is a lot better than those t-ball games you used to drag me to."

"Drag you to? Half the time I didn't even tell you when he had a game, you would just show up and plop a chair down," Andy rolls his eyes, "Anything else going on at work?"

"No more than usual. Waters is stuck with Gabriel until you get back…that kid is wearing him out," Provenza chuckles.

"Gabriel's a brown noser…" Andy grumbles and shakes his head, jumping to his feet as quickly as he can as the crack of the bat echoes and Ricky starts to run again, "Come on Rick! Bring it home!"

"Come on Ricky!" Provenza cheers along side Andy watching as the outfielder catches up with the ball and gets ready to heave it towards home plate. Ricky picks up his pace as he sees the ball flying through the air and dives towards the plate, sliding in under the catcher with his hand outstretched. He pauses for a moment as he waits for the umpire's call, coughing from some of the dust.

"SAFE!"

"Yes!" Andy yells, lifting his arm in the air. Sharon would probably be yelling at him for moving around too much, but he never got tired of watching Ricky complete a lap around the bases. He claps for a few more moments before sitting back down, "That's his second run this game and he says he doesn't want to play baseball in college."

"What does he want to do?"

"Computers," Andy rolls his eyes, "He said he might consider playing in a club league but he doesn't want to play in the big leagues. Said he might not even play next year. He feels bad taking up a spot on the team when he doesn't want to _do_ it."

"That's your wife's fault with all the touchy feely," Provenza notes.

"Yeah yeah yeah," Andy brushes him off with another roll of the eyes, "Are you coming tomorrow?"

"Yes, you said five?"

"Yeah," Andy nods, "Sharon's parents will be there, couple of my sisters came. Other friends and family, we're grilling."

"Cake?"

"Yes there will be cake," Andy laughs.

"I'll be there." Andy shakes his head and grabs a few more peanuts from the bag before offering it towards Provenza. The two sit through the rest of the game before clapping once the last out is called, Ricky's team taking the win with 5 runs over 3. Andy takes his time in gathering his things, waiting for his son to get packed up before he makes his way out of the dugout with his gear bag over his shoulder, "Nice win, Rick."

"Thanks, Dad," Ricky grins as Andy pats him on the shoulder, "Hey Uncle Provenza."

"That was a nice hit you had in the sixth," Provenza notes, "Good hustle."

"Thanks, have you been here for the whole game?"

"I caught the end of it," He admits as they start walking towards the parking lot, "Your dad says you don't want to play anymore."

"I definitely don't want to play in college, I don't know if I'll play next year," Ricky admits, "There's plenty of other kids who could take the spot."

"You up for some Dodger games this summer?"

"Definitely," Ricky grins and nods.

"Good answer," Provenza smiles and pats Ricky on the back as they approach Andy's car, "I'll see you guys tomorrow night."

"See ya," Andy waves as Provenza takes off towards his own car. Ricky tosses his gear bag in the trunk and brushes off his uniform before climbing into the car, "We've gotta run by the butcher before we go home, but make sure you put that in the wash right away when we get there or you mom will kill you."

"Yes, sir," Ricky mock salutes with a laugh. Andy punches him playfully in the shoulder and turns the engine over before pulling out of his parking spot. The two drive by the butcher on their way home, picking up their meat order for Emily and Charlie's graduation party the next evening. Ricky loads the box into the trunk for his father as he pays the bill. Once they're home he takes the box out of the trunk and carries it upstairs, putting it on the island in the kitchen before looking at the fridge, "Uh, Dad…how is this supposed to fit in the fridge?"

"I still need to put the kabobs together and get them marinating, just leave it," Andy replies as he steps into the kitchen, tugging at the velcro on his brace, "Go get cleaned up."

"When's Mom supposed to be home?" Ricky asks as he starts to undo the buttons on his jersey.

"Couple hours," Andy replies after looking at his watch, "She was getting out of work, checking on everyone at the hotel, and then picking up pizza on the way home. If you need any laundry done by her for tomorrow you better have it out tonight, she has to go in in the morning before graduation and she's not going to have time to do it in the morning."

"Can you iron my shirt?"

"Is it clean?"

"Uh huh," Ricky nods, pulling his jersey from his bottoms before shrugging it off.

"Yeah. I can iron it for you," Andy replies as he turns the faucet on to wash his hands.

"Okay," Ricky shrugs before lumbering off towards the bathroom to get cleaned up. Andy washes his hands before drying them off and getting out the bags of peppers, onions, and mushrooms they had purchased at the store a few days before. He pulls down a large packet of bamboo skewers and gets out a knife from the drawer before turning on some music and starting to break all of the vegetables down. The scraps get scooped into the trash and the vegetables set aside in piles before he opens the box of meat and starts to assemble the kabobs for the next day. He puts all of them into Tupperware containers before mixing together a marinade and pouring it over everything.

"Hey Ricky, can you come put these in the fridge for me?" Andy calls out to his son as he snaps the lids onto the containers.

"Coming!" Ricky calls out before appearing in the kitchen a few moments later dressed in basketball shorts and a t-shirt, his hair hanging damp in his eyes, "Just these containers?"

"Yeah, they should fit in the fridge, you might have to move some stuff around," Andy tells him, shoving the containers to his side of the counter before starting to clean up. Ricky opens both of the doors to the fridge and starts to shuffle around the contents so he can fit all of the containers inside. He pulls a few things out as he works before shutting the doors once he finishes.

"Can I eat these leftovers?"

"What are they?" Andy asks skeptically, wondering what they had made lately that even had leftovers.

"Uh…looks like some chicken pasta and…oooh mashed potatoes."

"Yeah sure," Andy nods, remembering they were from earlier in the week and should still be good. He hears the garage door open and slam before feet start clamoring upstairs.

"Dad we're home!" Emily calls up the stairs as she follows the twins up.

"In the kitchen!"

"Daddy! Daddy!" Libby yells as she runs into the kitchen, crashing into Andy's side. He winces as the impact jolts him slightly before wrapping his arm around his youngest daughter.

"Hi Lib."

"I got a new piano book," Libby tells him proudly, holding the book up to show him.

"You did?" Andy replies enthusiastically, "That's great! What are you going to play for me tonight?"

"Whatever you want!"

"Whatever I want? Hmm, I'm going to have to think about that," Andy smiles at her, ruffling her long auburn curls, "After dinner?"

"Okay," Libby grins before dashing off again. Andy shakes his head and wraps his arm around Drew as he leans into his side.

"Dad," Emily says, trying to get her father's attention, "Sam and I are going to hang out downstairs, is it okay if she stays for dinner?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's fine," He nods, "Your mom is getting pizza on her way home. Give her a hand when you hear her get in."

"Okay," Emily smiles, grabbing her girlfriend's hand before dragging her downstairs. Andy squeezes Drew and looks down at him.

"What about you?" He asks, "Anything exciting?"

"No," Drew replies quietly, shaking his head. Andy smiles and rubs his back before giving him another squeeze. While the twins looked similar and had the same behaviors for the most part, Drew tended to be more on the quiet and analytic side like his mother while Libby had inherited Andy's more outspoken personality.

"Sounds like a good way to start summer. What do you wanna do until Mom gets home?"

"Can we do cards?" Drew raises his eyebrows as he looks up at his father.

"Of course we can. Go grab the box and we can go outside, hmm?"

"Okay," Drew smiles and wraps his arms around Andy's waist to give him a hug before wandering down the hall. Andy finishes cleaning up the kitchen before meeting his youngest as he comes back down the hall, his arms laden with two game boxes, "I saw a new one at the store the other day. Well not new…it was old…but it was new to me."

"You did?" Andy asks as he takes the boxes before following the boy outside, "What was it?"

"It said Genus on it," Drew tells Andy, "It just had a plain blue box. Charlie looked at it and said it was from the 80s."

"Where was it at?" He asks as he follows Drew over to the chairs they had set up underneath the trees. He sets the boxes down on the small table before sinking down in one of the open seats. The lid of the top box gets wiggled off and Andy tips it towards Drew, "Pick a stack."

"Uh, it was a Goodwill I think," He responds as he wiggles his fingers into the thick stack of cards, pulling out a small chunk before handing them to Andy, "Charlie was looking for some shorts for the gym. Did you know he wants to be a cop?"

"He had mentioned it," Andy smiles as he shuffles the cards, "What about you? You want to be a cop?"

"No!" Drew shakes his head with a deep wrinkle of his nose, "I don't like guns or bad guys…that's for you and Mommy."

"Oh yeah, that's for me and Mommy?"

"Mmhm," Drew nods as he leans back in his chair, pulling his feet up underneath his body.

"What do you want to do when you grow up?" Andy asks as he taps the deck together to organize it, studying his son as he settles into the corner of the chair. Drew shrugs as he picks at a small scab on his knee with his brow furrowing in thought.

"I don't know," Drew mumbles before looking up at his father, chewing on his bottom lip, "Is knowing stuff a job?"

"It can be," Andy grins, "You could be a teacher, or you could research stuff and make discoveries."

"Maybe I'll do that," Drew smiles back.

"Alright, what color?"

"Uh, blue."

"Which US state has the highest number of hazardous waste sites? Nevada, New Jersey, or California?" Andy reads off from the top card before glancing up.

"New Jersey!" Drew answers enthusiastically.

"Good job, though we've both been to New Jersey, does that really surprise you?" Andy jokes before moving onto the next card. The two go back and forth for a while, Drew choosing categories while Andy reads off questions and, on occasion, corrects him on a wrong answer. Eventually they stop when they hear the gate for the driveway open and see Sharon pull down the drive in the Land Cruiser. They needed to get it replaced, but they were waiting for everything to settle after getting Charlie and Emily off to college. He offers a wave in the direction of the car before helping Drew start to clean up.

The garage door gets closed before they finish up so the two of them climb the stairs on the porch structure and go in through the screen door they had come out of earlier in the afternoon. Andy hears rustling in the kitchen so he nudges Drew down the hall to put the game back and get everyone else for dinner. The fact that he hears crinkling plastic instead of the pop of a wine cork intrigues him as he rounds the corner. Sharon holds her finger up to him as she manages to stuff a packet of strawberry Pop Tarts into her mouth in a record amount of time before chasing them with half a glass of milk.

"Do I dare ask who brought out Darth today?" Andy inquires after her finger drops and she busies herself with getting plates out for dinner. Carbs usually meant that not only had someone brought out her dark side, but they had dug in deep enough to piss her off as well, "Carbs instead of wine, must be pretty bad."

"I just don't understand…," Sharon starts, waving the pizza cutter in his general direction for a moment before her eyes narrow, "You're not wearing your brace."

"Oh come on Sharon, I have an appointment on Monday," Andy rolls his eyes and starts to open the pizza boxes, "I haven't taken anything for the pain in a week. I'm not going to end up with a screwed up back because I took it off a couple days early."

"Andrew…" Sharon warns. Andy takes the pizza cutter out of her hand and puts it on the island as he stands over her, looking down.

"Don't take your bad day out on me, O'Dwyer," he says with a low, warning tone and a teasing glint to his eye. Sharon clacks her teeth at him in a bite before the kids start to filter in for dinner. She grabs a couple slices of pizza before pouring herself a small glass of wine and retreating to the dinner table. She talks to Libby about her piano lessons as the girl climbs into the seat next to her. Drew takes the seat next to his sister and dips his pizza in the puddle of ranch dressing on his plate, a habit he had picked up from his mother.

"What about you, bub?" Sharon asks as she looks at her son, "Is the quiz team doing anything over the summer?"

"No," Drew shakes his head, "They don't run during day camp."

"Is there anything else besides day camp that you want to do this summer?"

"No, I'm good," Drew smiles before taking another bite of pizza. Sharon watches him for a couple moments before dragging her eyes over to Ricky and asking about his game. She spends dinner getting caught up with the kids before taking her plate into the kitchen and taking the time to refill her glass. Her hand drags across Andy's shoulders as she tells him she's going to take a bath, before disappearing down the hallway.

Andy stays up with the kids a while longer before deciding to turn in once they decide to watch a movie together. He reminds them all to get to bed at a reasonable time since they had graduation the next day before making his way down the hall himself. He's surprised to find the bed empty and the door to the bathroom drawn most of the way closed, only a slight crack letting light out. He hears the hollow thud of a mostly empty bottle clattering to the floor before Sharon curses with a frustrated groan.

"Shar?" Andy questions as he steps towards the bathroom, his hand pushing the door open slowly, "You alright?"

"No!" Sharon snaps and sighs as she slips up straighter in the tub, the water sloshing gently against the side. His eyes widen as she deposits the waterproof blue gel vibrator she had next to her wine glass before grabbing the glass and taking a healthy swallow. She sighs as she puts the glass back down and sinks lower into the water, using her toe to turn on the hot water again, "Sorry, yes. I'm fine."

"No you're not," Andy responds as he leans down to pick up the shampoo bottle that had slid across the floor. He puts it back in the shower before grabbing a folded up towel and dropping it next to the tub, "Talk to me."

"I've just had a really long day and all I want to do is have an orgasm and get just a little loose on a couple glasses of wine," She tells him as she turns the hot water off, "I just want to melt for a moment. And I'm sorry honey, but my wrist is tired."

"I can help you with that."

"Your back. We can't have sex," Sharon responds immediately, her eyes darting over to him. Just because he felt he didn't need to wear his brace didn't mean everything was back to normal. At his last appointment the doctor said he still had a few weeks of PT in front of him after the brace was removed.

"I didn't say that," Andy replies as he kneels down next to the tub, resting his arms on the rim, "Doesn't mean I can't help you."

"I am all ears for help, Andrew Michael," Sharon replies as she drops her head back onto the cushion she had to rest against. Andy laughs softly and reaches out to teasingly drag his fingers over her knee that was sticking out of the water. His fingertips dip below the surface, testing the temperature of the water.

"I don't really need to talk, all though I can," Andy offers as his fingers swim through the surface of the water, disturbing the bubbles. He trails his fingertips over the swells of her breasts before they dive under to cup her breast in his hand. Sharon moans softly and arches into his touch, quickly catching onto his drift as his hand moves under the water, touching her body to re-stoke the fire that had been burning in her veins when she'd slipped into the bath earlier.

"You don't have to do this," Sharon murmurs as his hand drifts towards the apex of her thighs.

"I hardly think of it as an obligation," Andy responds and leans over to press a kiss to her lips as his fingers slip through her heat to stroke her, finding her wet and waiting. Sharon moans and kisses him back hungrily, lifting a wet hand to tangle in his hair and clutch him closer. He teasingly massages his fingers over her and rubs his thumb over her clit. She pulls away from his mouth and gasps as he touches her. He watches the emotions play over her face as his fingertips press gently against her entrance before he slides two inside of her. Her hips immediately flex up towards him while her mouth drops open in a silent cry.

"Yes!" She whimpers. Andy smiles as he moves his fingers within her, watching a flush bloom over her chest and neck. He adds a third finger and her hand curls around his wrist, grounding him as she moves against his hand. He can feel her muscles clench and pulse around him while they respond to his movements. He curls and presses his fingertips upward, "I'm so close."

"Let go," Andy commands softly. Sharon arches her back and grabs onto Andy's arm as she cries out softly. Her eyes clench shut as her muscles pulse around his fingers, tugging his fingers in tightly. He continues to thrust his fingers in and out of her until her grip loosens and she sags back in the water.

"Oh my god," Sharon murmurs as she lets go of her husband, whimpering as he pulls his hand away. Andy kisses her gently and rests his forehead against hers.

"Feel better?"

"Much," She replies softly. He smiles and presses a kiss to her forehead before getting up from his spot, grunting as his knees crack.

"I am going to get ready for bed," He tells her, "Take your time."

"Thank you," Sharon responds, opening her eyes and smiling at him. Andy winks before heading into the bedroom. He changes into his pajamas and climbs into bed with a groan as he settles into the mattress. Sharon comes out a few moments later with her hair damp around her shoulders, dressed in a cream silk nightgown. He sits up on his elbow as she slides into bed next to him and offers him a satisfied smile as she curls up on her side, "That was nice."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Andy smiles and reaches out to tuck a curl behind her ear. She shuffles closer to him and rests her head on his shoulder carefully, her hand laying on his stomach.

"This okay?"

"Yeah, of course," Andy responds, rubbing his hand up her back. The two lie in silence for a while while his hand trails lazily up and down her back, enjoying a few moments to hold her close, "Provenza stopped by Ricky's game earlier."

"He did?"

"Yeah," Andy nods as he runs his fingers through the ends of her hair, "He said Pope's been talking to people."

"Such criminal behavior," Sharon teases. Pope had been promoted to Assistant Chief the year before and had fully embraced his administrative position, much to the displeasure of the Robbery Homicide group and a few other departments.

"Rumor is that he's putting together some high profile homicide squad," Andy continues, feeling Sharon tense under his hand, "So you have heard of it."

"There was a memo that was sent out to Captain and up officers," Sharon offers.

"Did you apply?"

"And got a rejection two days later that the position had already been filled…it was five days after the position had been posted," she responds with a bite to her tone.

"He's bringing in someone from the outside."

* * *

[TBC]


	4. Chapter 4

Sharon slowly pulls the flat iron through Emily's long hair as her daughter sits at the vanity in her and Andy's room. A soft clicking was floating through the room as Emily's thumbs furiously type out text messages to her friends.

"Your thumbs are going to fall off if you keep going at that pace," Sharon teases.

"They are not," Emily replies with a laugh as she sets her phone down on the desk, exchanging it for her makeup bag. She leans forward as her mother lets her hair go, focusing on putting on a light coat of makeup.

"I can't believe you're graduating," Sharon comments softly as she steps closer to the chair Emily was sitting in to continue working on her hair. The girl was more than capable of getting ready on her own, but she wanted the time with her, realizing that after the graduation ceremony she would have to share her all evening.

"Is that an I can't believe you're graduating because you suck at math so bad or my baby's growing up and I can't believe she's graduating?"

"The second one," Sharon laughs, "You are my oldest, so yes, my baby has definitely grown up and is going to be out on her own soon..."

"At least you have me for the summer," Emily points out.

"I do have you for the summer," Sharon nods and smiles as she sets the hot iron down before running a brush through the girl's hair. She sighs softly as she combs her fingers through it a moment later, watching the dark brown shimmer in the sunlight that was filtering into the room.

"What are you thinking about?"

"The one time I let your dad take you and Ricky for haircuts right before we got married," Sharon lets out a wet laugh, "You cut probably 11 inches off that day and I was absolutely incensed with him when you got home."

"I vaguely remember that...what happened?"

"I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything ready for all of us to go to Connecticut for the wedding and then for your dad and I to go to Ireland and he was going out with Provenza to pick up his suit and offered to take you guys for your hair appointment," Sharon recounts with a small smile, "Nicole had just gotten hers cut for the summer and I had to keep talking you out of cutting yours off. Of course not being there to tell the hair stylist otherwise, you came home with a shoulder length bob instead of a quarter inch trim. It was basically your first hair cut."

"Oh yeah," Emily grins, "I forgot about that…I only made that mistake what…three more times?"

"Just about," Sharon nods in agreement before letting Emily's hair go and wrapping her arms around her from behind with a sniffle, "I'm going to miss you so much…"

"Mom don't start crying now…"

"I can't help it," Sharon replies tearfully. Emily puts down the eyeshadow brush in her hand and pries herself out of her mother's arms before standing up and turning around to wrap her arms around her properly. Sharon sniffles and buries her nose into Emily's hair, holding onto her tight, "I don't know if I've said this enough over the years, but I am so, so, so proud of you. You have become such an amazing young woman. You are so compassionate and smart…and you are such a great dancer and I know you will do an amazing job in New York even though I'm going to miss you terribly."

"Oh Momma, Momma, Momma…" Emily whispers as she sways back and forth with Sharon.

"I remember the day you were born…thinking that the clock had started ticking, just counting down the days and hours and minutes until I'd have to let you go…"

"You don't have to let me go. I don't want you to let me go," Emily responds. She rests her head against Sharon's and sighs softly as they continue to hold each other. Sharon pulls back after a few moments and tucks Emily's hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek.

"I will never let you go. You'll always be my baby girl," Sharon murmurs with a smile, swiping her fingers under her eyes before pressing a kiss to the girl's head, "Why don't you finish getting ready? I need to shower real quick and get dressed myself."

"Sure," Emily nods, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sharon nods frantically, "Yes, of course. Just a big day."

"Okay," Emily says, reaching out and squeezing her mother's hand before Sharon makes her way into the bathroom.

Later in the afternoon Andy knocks softly on the bedroom door before sticking his head in. Sharon was standing at the vanity putting her earrings in, already dressed with her makeup on. He watches her quietly for a moment before she notices his presence and smiles at him in the mirror.

"Hi."

"Hey, you ready to go?"

"Just about," Sharon tells him as she slips the other earring in before straightening up and turning around to face him, "How do I look? Like the mother of a high school graduate?"

"I would have guessed you were graduating yourself," Andy compliments as he steps further into the room and looks his wife over. Her long hair was hanging in loose natural waves over her shoulder and the deep purple cap sleeved lace dress she was wearing seemed familiar, though he couldn't remember her wearing it out before. She had topped the look off with matching silk heels, a pair of simple earrings, and a cross pendant necklace. Sharon rolls her eyes at Andy's compliment and runs her fingers through her hair with a soft sigh.

"I wish."

"You look great," Andy reiterates and leans down to press a soft kiss to her lips. She hums and kisses him back for a moment before pulling away and smoothing her hand over the tie he was wearing. Deciding to forgo the jacket he was simply dressed in a nice pair of grey pants with a crisp white dress shirt and a purple tie.

"I can't believe our girl is graduating," Sharon murmurs as she tugs on the end of his tie.

"Me either," Andy replies, reaching up to grab her hand, "You doing okay?"

"Yeah," Sharon nods before taking a deep breath and giving him a reassuring smile, "I'll be okay."

"I like this dress. Have you worn it before?"

"It's my wedding dress," Sharon comments and smoothes out the skirt, "I sent it out to be dyed a couple months ago and finally got it back last week. Do you like the color?"

"It looks great," Andy smiles, "Perfect as always."

"Thank you," Sharon smiles back with a small blush coloring her cheeks. She follows him down to the garage and sighs as she pulls herself up into the passenger seat of the Land Cruiser, dropping her clutch into her lap as she buckles up. Looking into the back seat she smiles as she sees Emily sitting in the middle, already dressed in her graduation gown, playfully putting her hat on top of Drew's head. The boy laughs as she stretches the elastic to fit his head before swinging it back and forth with the tassel.

Andy climbs into the driver seat and turns the engine over before backing out of the garage and putting them on their way to St. Joseph's. He reaches over after a few moments to take his wife's hand, curling his fingers around her and squeezing softly. Sharon offers him a reassuring smile and squeezes back, keeping her hold on him until they get to the school. They manage to quickly find a parking spot in the small lot before Emily flings her seatbelt off, the back door already open.

"I'll meet you guys here after?" She asks as she takes her hat back from Drew and jumps out of the back seat.

"Yeah we'll meet here after and then head back to the house," Sharon nods as she climbs out of the car herself, "Do you have everything you need?"

"I think so," Emily replies as she looks down at her outfit, making sure she had all of her cords before reaching up to put her hat on. Sharon reaches out and takes the topper out of her daughter's hand before smoothing her hair out and helping her put it on right.

"There you go."

"Thanks," Emily smiles. Sharon presses one last kiss to her forehead before sending her off to where the students were gathering. She turns around when she feels Andy step up behind her.

"Why don't you guys go get seats for everyone and I'll wait for everyone else?" Sharon suggests. Two of Andy's sisters had travelled for the even along with Sharon's parents and were supposed to be carpooling everyone over to the school for graduation. She had talked to Sophia a little while before they left and they were still running on schedule as far as they knew, but it was the first time they'd been traveling to the school themselves and she wanted to be able to help them navigate if needed.

"Sure, we'll need…nine for us?"

"Yeah, I don't know if you've talked to Vicky at all today…"

"I'm gonna grab another five for them if I can," Andy answers.

"Okay," Sharon nods, "I'll find you in a few hopefully."

"Kay," Andy presses a kiss to her cheek before taking the kids inside. He manages to find them a full row of chairs available before claiming their territory. Ricky sidles past his father to move down the row after Drew and Libby. The twins take seats next to each other a few seats in and Drew pulls out his Gameboy turning it on.

"Can I play?" Libby asks.

"Sure," Drew nods and hands it over to her, watching over her shoulder as she boots up his Pokemon game. Ricky sits down next to his father, planning to move once more people arrived.

"Is Mom okay?" He asks Andy.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah she seems…out of it," Ricky shrugs.

"It's a big day for her," Andy points out, "Emily's _her_ oldest, so it's just kind of a 'moment', she'll be okay though."

"So she's not going to be like this when I graduate right?"

"Oh no, she'll definitely be like this when you graduate," Andy laughs and pats his son on the back, "She is going to be like this at all of your graduations. She doesn't take kindly to the chicks leaving the nest."

"Great," Ricky rolls his eyes playfully. Andy grins and looks back towards the door, waving his hand for Vicky as he sees her come in with Dan, Nicole, and her parents. He stands up when they get closer and points down the row that he had taken over before hugging his daughter.

"Hi honey," Andy tells her as he squeezes her tight, "How was your trip back?"

"Good, good," Nicole replies as she pulls back, "Mom found a good storage place to put most of my stuff that's pretty cheap, so I only had to bring back the stuff I took out there really."

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it out," Andy apologizes again.

"It's okay," Nicole shakes her head, "I'm just glad to see that you're standing. I was terrified when Mom called me and told me you'd gotten hurt."

"You know how it is," Andy shrugs.

"All too well," Nicole agrees before kissing her father on the cheek and then shuffling past him down the row to see her other siblings and take a seat next to her mother. Sharon makes her way over a few moments later with the rest of their family and points everyone down the row before taking her seat next to Andy. He takes her hand in his and threads their fingers together, resting their hands on his thigh.

"Doin' alright?"

"Just fine," Sharon squeezes his hand and smiles at him before sitting up as the procession begins. Charlie and Emily walk in towards the middle of the group, both of them waving at their family as they walk by. The initial ceremony doesn't take very long and soon they are calling students across the stage, making their way through the alphabet until they get to the F's.

"Luis Alfonso Fernandez…Colleen Anne Fitzgerald…David Allen Fitzsimmons…Gerald Owen Fleming…Ryan Marie Floyd…Charles Michael Flynn…" Andy's chest puffs out when they call Charlie's name before he crosses the stage, bringing his fingers to his mouth in a piercing whistle.

"Emily Eileen Flynn…" Emily follows right behind Charlie across the stage, her cheeks bright red as she accepts her diploma before making her way down the stairs on the other side. Both of the kids give their parents excited looks as they make their way back to their seats. Andy hands Sharon a tissue as he looks over and notices her brushing tears away with a wide smile on her lips.

"Halfway there," He reminds her with a wink. Sharon laughs and squeezes his hand as she dabs at her eyes.

"I don't want any more of them to grow up, so hush," She reprimands with a sparkle in her eyes.

After thoroughly celebrating Charlie and Emily's graduation and spending a couple more weeks at home with the kids while attending physical therapy sessions Andy's doctor finally sent him back to work. And he'd been spending most of his first day back at his desk poking through paperwork that had piled up while he was gone. It was an irritation when he hadn't been gone for almost two months, at this point it was practically rage inducing.

Andy looks up as he hears the soft clack of heels approach the bullpen. The tone and cadence was different from his wife's, putting him on alert. His eyes narrow as Pope walks into the room with a petite blonde at his side. Her hair tumbled past her shoulders in loose curls, pinned back slightly from her face. She had a pink sweater folded over her forearm and a large black bag slung over her shoulder, offsetting a cap sleeved, knee length pink and white floral print dress. Andy was sure he hadn't even seen that color step foot in the Parker Center unless it was on a hooker.

Pope walks Brenda through the room introducing her to the higher up officers in the bullpen. Andy watches as she smiles and shakes hands with everyone, already slightly glazed over from a day undoubtedly filled with many many names and ranks that she didn't necessarily care about. He runs his tongue over the toothpick in his mouth and stands when they make their way over to his desk, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"Flynn, meet Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson who is going to head up our Priority Murder Squad. Brenda, this is Lieutenant Andy Flynn."

"It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant," Brenda replies in a soft southern drawl, offering Andy a smile.

"You too, _Chief_ ," Andy responds while giving Pope a withering look before returning his attention to Brenda, "Enjoying LA?"

"So far," Brenda nods, "A lot more sprawled out than Atlanta."

"It's a behemoth," Andy agrees, "What did you do in Atlanta?"

"I was a Captain in Robbery Homicide."

"Captain to Deputy Chief...quite a jump," Andy observes with a raise of his eyebrows and a roll of the toothpick. Pope gives him a look before dragging Brenda off to talk to someone else. He catches Provenza's eye across the room and shakes his head as he drops back down into his chair. He glances at his watch and sees that he only has a few more minutes before he was supposed to meet Sharon downstairs. Since he'd finally been cleared to go back to work so Sharon had suggested that they have lunch together to celebrate. Of course that also happened to coincide with the new Priority Murder Squad's Deputy Chief's first day. Andy knew that Pope wasn't going to face Sharon and take Brenda down to PSB. According to his wife the Assistant Chief hadn't been down on her floor for weeks.

Andy gets up a few minutes later and grabs his suit jacket from the back of his chair. He shrugs it on as he crosses the room to Provenza's desk.

"I'm meeting Sharon for lunch, did you want me to bring you something back?"

"Where are you going?"

"The deli down the street."

"No. I think Pope's forcing us to go out to lunch with the new boss," Provenza shakes his head, "Thanks for the offer though."

"Have fun with Miss Atlanta," Andy teases before leaving the bullpen and making his way downstairs. He walks up to his wife when he finds her and puts his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, ready?"

"Yeah," Sharon nods and smiles at him as she looks up from her phone, flipping it closed. Andy takes her hand as they make their way out of the Parker Center and make their way down the street, "How's your day been going?"

"Boring," Andy shrugs, "I've just been playing catch up most of the morning. How about you?"

"Fine," Sharon smiles and nudges her shoulder into his, "I feel a little better having you here instead of at home. Eases my mind a little bit."

"Just a little bit?"

"Mmhm," Sharon laughs softly, thanking him as he opens the door to the deli for her. The two of them are quickly seated in a booth with menus and waters before being told their waitress would be right with them. Andy glances around to see if anyone else from the office was sitting close enough to overhear their conversation.

"Pope's parading her around the office today," Andy comments as he starts to look over his menu, "Brought her by to introduce her to everyone. Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson…ever heard anything about her?"

"I looked her up after the announcement. Didn't find a ton, but I didn't look too hard," Sharon comments as she closes her menu before reaching out to grab her glass of water, "Pope calls her a 'closer'…says she's good at getting confessions. I feel that somehow that's going to mean an increase in paperwork coming across my desk."

"Probably," Andy snorts and looks up as the waitress comes over. He orders a sandwich for himself and a salad for Sharon along with two iced teas before handing their menus back over, "She was a Captain in Atlanta Robbery Homicide…a Captain and they promote her to Deputy Chief."

"There are rules," Sharon points out with a pout on her lips, "If people transfer into the LAPD they either transfer in as an Officer 1 or a Deputy Chief."

"Of course there's a rule," Andy rolls his eyes and crumples up the wrapper from his straw, tossing it forcefully against the table, "It's still bullshit that they even brought her in…"

"Mmm," Sharon agrees. Most people would think it would be a toss up to who was more upset about the arrival of Brenda and the development of the Priority Murder Squad, but to be honest Sharon had let a lot of her animosity go, it was Andy who was harbored a decent amount of resentment around his exclusion from even being considered for the squad. He was also offended for his wife and her exclusion from the promotion opportunity even after she tried to reassure him that she was happy staying in FID, "Are you going to brood every time you talk about work now?"

"Only for the next couple months," Andy grins and Sharon rolls her eyes, throwing her napkin at him.

"Sometimes I wonder why I married you."

"Only sometimes?"

"Keep pushing, Andrew," Sharon laughs softly and looks up as the waitress brings their drinks, thanking her. She locks eyes with her husband as she takes a sip of the drink, winking at him softly. Andy sighs and shakes his head with a smirk, the tension uncoiling from his shoulders as he looks at her. It'd better serve him to focus on enjoying time with her instead of fuming about work.

Andy ended up lasting only a few days on desk duty before Taylor called him and Waters at the end of their shift on Thursday and assigned them a homicide out in Brentwood. He takes the slip from his captain before looking at his watch and dialing Sharon's cell phone.

"Hey, I'm getting rolled out," Andy speaks into the phone once the call connects and he hears his wife's voice on the other end.

"You gonna be late?" Sharon responds. He could hear the click of her turn signal and knew she was already on her way home.

"Yeah probably. Special request from Taylor," Andy sighs, "Don't wait up."

"Okay, I'll leave some leftovers in the fridge for you."

"Thanks, hon," Andy smiles, "Love you."

"I love you too. Try not to get kicked down any stairs tonight, please."

"I will try my best," Andy laughs before hanging up the phone. He grabs his gun off his desk and puts it on his belt before shrugging his suit jacket on and following Waters out of the bullpen to the motor pool. He was itching to get back to actual work, it had been too long.

Sharon looks at the clock on Andy's bedside table when she hears the door from the garage open and close before heavy footsteps start to make their way upstairs. She slips her bookmark between the pages of the book in her lap and looks up as an extremely red version of her husband storms into their bedroom, flinging the door shut behind him.

"She fucking took my case!" Andy exclaims as he pulls at his tie, wrenching the silk away from his neck.

"Who?" Sharon asks as she puts her book back onto her bedside table and sits up a little more. She knew who but if she didn't get him talking he was going to stew himself into a tizzy.

"Chief Johnson," Andy spits out as he tosses his tie on the dresser along with his gun, handcuffs, and badge, each item making a satisfying thunk against the wood, "Pope fucking sent her and Gabriel over to take the case after Taylor had rolled us out. She practically pushed me out of the way!"

"I doubt she pushed you out of the way…"

"She pushed me out of the way," Andy reiterates as he continues to undress, "The entire squad is bullshit. I can't believe Pope would…"

"Come here," Sharon beckons, sliding to the end of the bed. She sits up on her knees and curls her finger at her husband. She pushes him to sit down on the bench and wraps her arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss to his temple, "It's going to take a while. It's going to take a while for this team to figure out what it's doing, and I know you're still upset that Pope didn't talk to you and see if you had any interest in it. And I know you hate it when people take your cases…But you're home and not spending a long night at work."

"I miss doing my job, this was the first case I've been out on in over two months," Andy grumbles as he drops his head back against her shoulder.

"Well, LA hasn't turned into a saintly city over night. And as much as I hate to admit it I'm sure there will be something waiting for you in the morning."

"I know," Andy sighs. Sharon presses her lips to his temple and gives him a squeeze.

"Finish getting changed and get in here with me," She murmurs into his ear before letting go and getting back in bed properly, shaking out the blankets. Andy finishes changing into his pajamas before getting into bed next to his wife. She snuggles up closer to his body and hums happily as he spoons up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist.

"I love you," Andy mumbles, his declaration taking an apologetic tone now that he was starting to calm down. He presses his lips to her bare shoulder and squeezes her tight to his body.

"I love you too," Sharon responds and turns her head slightly to smile at him, "And I love it when you're home to sleep right here next to me…"

"Me too."

* * *

[TBC]


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes:** Hey everyone! Still here, sorry it's taken me eons to post a new chapter, I got caught up in a couple one shots and a bucket of grief. We're still continuing with this so don't worry. I wanted to get something posted for New Years so this is a shorter chapter, but gets us back on track and it's a little bit of a focus flip, but something I wanted to cover. Thanks! Enjoy!

* * *

 _Sharon hums and arches her back as Andy's fingers trail over her skin, moaning softly as his hips rock against hers. Her fingers curl around the pillow underneath her head and her eyes close as she bites her bottom lip. Her breathing quickens as they move with each other, a sweat breaking out across her skin. She lets out a loud moan and tightens her legs around his waist, feeling the liquid fire in the pit of her stomach start to flood through her veins. Her brow furrows as she feels the heat continuing to expand and her body to start to feel on fire._

Sharon starts awake and pants softly as her eyes scan around the moonlit bedroom. She shifts slightly and realizes that she and Andy were squished to her side of the bed and he was pressed firmly up against her back. His arm was draped over her waist and she could feel a bit of an erection pressed against her behind. Between his natural body heat and the blankets wrapped around them a thin sheen of sweat had broken out on her skin. Her eyes shift to the alarm clock and she realizes it was still the middle of the night.

Sharon manages to gently pry Andy's arm away from her and slips out of bed before padding to the bathroom. She doesn't turn the lights on, but steps up to the sink and turns the cold water on, splashing a bit of water on her face to cool herself down. She grabs a hand towel and pats herself dry before pulling her hair up away from her neck into a loose ponytail and stripping off her nightgown. She makes her way back to bed and slides back in next to Andy, sighing happily as she finds the sheets cooled down.

Andy's arm automatically slips around her waist and his hand splays out against the bare skin of her back as he pulls her closer.

"Where you go?" He mumbles as he presses his lips to her shoulder.

"I got hot," Sharon responds as she settles in next to him, pressing her weight further into him to shift him back on the bed a bit more.

"You're always hot," Andy replies with a bit of a teasing lilt to his tired voice. Sharon laughs softly and presses her lips to his in a soft, lazy kiss.

"Charmer," She mumbles and wraps her arm around him.

"You're naked," Andy says as his hand slips further up her back and doesn't encounter any clothing.

"I told you I got hot."

"Hot flash?" He inquires as he presses his lips to her shoulder. God she smelled good. He didn't know how she did it, but she was still so enticing. Sharon shakes her head and hums in a negative response, the touch of his lips to her skin reigniting the fire that had been in her stomach just after she had woken from her dream. Andy can feel a flush of heat bloom over her skin.

"You were having a dirty dream weren't you?" He asks, his tone more alert and teasing as he continues to kiss her bare skin.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Sharon murmurs as she threads her fingers in his hair and pulls his head back, pressing her lips to his. Andy groans and kisses her back hungrily as he presses his body closer. His hand slips down instead of up and brushes along her thigh, pulling her leg around his hip. She moans softly into his mouth and grinds back against him.

It only takes a moment for Andy to discard his pajama bottoms and slide inside of her. He uses his weight to roll her onto her back and kisses her hungrily as he begins to move his hips. Sharon moans and tangles her fingers in his hair, arching up against him. She bites at his bottom lip as she moves roughly back against him, pulling on the silver strands in her grasp.

Weeks of not touching each other left their nerves instantly engulfed in flames as they moved together. Both of them easily find their release in the other, crying out almost simultaneously as heat and ecstasy floods their bodies. Andy pants as he drops his forehead to rest against Sharon's, offering her a dopey grin as he teasingly thrusts against her and pulls an exhausted whimper out of her. He presses a soft kiss to her lips before slipping from her and dropping down to the mattress. She snuggles up to his side and slings her leg over his, rubbing her hand over his bare chest.

"Still hot?" Andy asks. Sharon laughs and bites at his pec teasingly.

"I'm cooling down," She replies as she rests her against his shoulder, "Back feel okay?"

"Feels great," Andy assures her, "Feels really really great."

"Good," Sharon whispers and presses a kiss to his jaw as she closes her eyes. It doesn't take her long to go back to sleep, sleeping through until her alarm goes off early in the morning. She reaches out and turns off the offending sound before rolling over and smiling as she finds Andy sprawled out on his stomach on the other side of the bed, Frank curled up between his shoulder and head. Her hand strokes over his back and traces his muscles for a moment before getting out of bed.

Sharon dresses in a sports bra, tank top, and running shorts before pulling her hair into a tighter ponytail and putting on her running shoes. She grabs Lyla's leash and straps the dog on before heading out the door with her. The two of them go for their usual morning run before returning to the house a little after six. Once Lyla is off her leash she trots into the kitchen to head for her water bowl as Sharon makes her way back to the bedroom to get into the shower. She steps to the side a few minutes later as she works shampoo through her hair, making room for Andy as he steps in next to her.

"Morning," She murmurs quietly as she massages the soap into her scalp.

"Morning," Andy yawns as he steps under the spray for a moment to get wet before grabbing his soap and starting to clean up. The two of them manage to shower in tandem before getting out. Sharon wraps herself in a large towel before grabbing a smaller one for her hair, stepping up to her vanity to continue her regular morning routine. She smiles a quiet thank you at Andy as he puts a cup of coffee down in front of her a few minutes later as she does her hair.

They get ready for work in a quiet silence, Andy putting his hands on his wife's skirt clad hips as she leans closer to the mirror to apply her makeup. She pauses with her eyeliner stick in her hand, looking up at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Breakfast?"

"Just some toast and fruit would be good," Sharon responds with a smile before resuming her task. She finishes her makeup and buttons up her blouse before tucking it in and grabbing her shoes, phone, and coffee on the way out to the kitchen. She's surprised to see the twins sitting up at the island munching on peanut butter toast as Andy sets out another plate for her, one buttered slice and some cut up fruit, "What are you two doing up already? I was expecting to have to drag you out of bed."

"Smelled toast," Libby mumbles around the food in her mouth. Andy grins and tops off his wife coffee before emptying the rest of the coffee into a to-go mug. He rinses the pot out and puts it back before putting the lid to his cup on and pressing a kiss to her lips.

"I've got to go, you good to get them to day camp?"

"Yes," Sharon nods and grabs his tie, pulling him back for one more kiss. She wraps her arms around him and squeezes him close for a moment before letting go, "I love you. Have a good day."

"I love you too," Andy smiles at her before pressing kisses to the top of the kids' heads, "You guys have a good day. I'll see you later."

"Bye Daddy!" The twins call after him. Sharon waits for the twins finish eating before sending them to get dressed and get their bags together for day camp. She finishes her own breakfast and cleans up the kitchen before making sure that Lyla and Frank both have water. Grabbing her own bag she meets the twins by the stairs before nudging them down to the car. She knocks on Emily's door as she passes.

"Don't lay in bed all day!" Sharon calls out before closing the door to the garage behind her. Inside the bedroom Sam giggles as she looks across at Emily, both of them bundled under the blankets of Emily's bed.

"Do you think she knows I'm here?" Sam asks.

"No," Emily shakes her head with a grin and a laugh before shuffling closer and pressing her lips to Sam's. She wraps her arms around her and tangles their legs together, resting her head on her shoulder, "We have to pick the tweedles up at three. What do you want to do until then?"

"We could make breakfast," Sam suggests as she plays with the ends of Emily's hair, "And then we could get in the pool. Or watch a movie. Or do both. Orrrr….."

"Orrrrr?"

"Or we could just have really loud sex all day and scar Ricky," Sam says before starting to tickle Emily, making her squeal and burst into laughter as she wiggles to get away. In a short tussle Sam ends up thudding to the floor as she falls out of the twin bed, causing another stream of giggles from Emily as she looks over the edge.

"Oops."

"We should probably make breakfast," Sam grunts as she pushes herself up into a sitting position, capturing Emily's lips in a kiss.

"Pancakes?" Emily asks after she pulls away.

"Sure," Sam nods, pushing herself up off the floor before leaving the bedroom and making her way upstairs. Emily scrambles behind a few moments later, only pausing to pull on a pair of sweatpants before she clamors up the stairs. Sam was already pulling things out from the cupboards for the pancakes so Emily grabs a mixing bowl and a pan for them to use.

"Looks like we have some bacon, do you want some?" Emily asks as she stands in front of the open fridge, holding butter and orange juice in her hand. Sam nods and Emily grabs the bacon as well as the eggs before setting everything on the island. Sam starts to put together the batter as Emily gets busy frying the bacon. By the time the two of them have breakfast made Ricky comes lumbering in and drops onto one of the stools at the island.

"What's for breakfast?" He mumbles as he rubs his eyes.

"Who said we were feeding you?" Emily teases him before sliding a plate in front of him, "Pancakes and bacon."

"Mmm, thanks," He replies before filling a cup with orange juice and starting to eat. Sam grabs two plates and she and Emily make their way out to the porch, taking seats in the two chairs set up in the corner. Emily pulls her feet up and balances her plate on her knees as she starts to eat.

"The pancakes are good," Emily compliments as she holds a piece of banana out to Sam on her fork.

"Good," Sam smiles before leaning over to take the offered fruit, "Who is going to make you pancakes when you're at fancy NYU?"

"You," Emily grins as she cuts off a bite of pancake, "When you come visit me. I won't eat a pancake you don't make me."

"Oh I'm coming to visit you?"

"Mmhm," Emily nods, "If I make the trip to New Haven to see you, I am basically obligated to make the extra half hour trip to see my grandparents."

"It wouldn't be that horrible would it?" Sam asks with an arched eyebrow as she picks up a piece of bacon.

"No, but when I'm intending on spending my time with _you_ they get a little in the way," Emily smiles as she leans her head back against the chair, "And how can you call NYU fancy when you're going to freaking Yale."

"I thought that was ye olde family school around these parts," Sam teases, "Besides…if it wasn't for your mom I wouldn't be going. I wouldn't have even _thought_ I could go."

"Why? You're a genius!" Emily exclaims, "If anyone deserves to go it's you."

"Still," Sam shrugs and looks down, "You guys took me on that visit and your mom set up those meetings. Their acceptance rate is like five percent, no matter how smart you are."

"Well they are lucky to have you," Emily says as she leans over and pecks Sam on the cheek, "And I'm glad you're going."

"Thanks," Sam smiles. The two of them finish their breakfast and Emily takes their plates inside, cleaning up the kitchen before going to join her girlfriend out in the hammock. She slips in beside her and sighs softly as they sway back and forth. Emily finds herself quickly dozing off only jolting awake when she feels Sam move underneath her.

"What are you doing?" Emily mumbles tiredly as she shifts her head so she can look at Sam.

"Uh, I have something…I wanted to give you," Sam says as she pulls a small jewelry box out from underneath her leg. She turns it over a couple times before holding it out to Emily, "Here."

"What is it?" Emily asks as she takes the item from Sam, looking at it curiously.

"Open it," Sam encourages. Emily rolls her eyes before opening the box. Her eyes widen as she finds a small, simple, single stone diamond ring within.

"Sammy…"

"It's not…I know the next four years are gonna be rough. We're going to meet new people and we're not always going to be able to be together. And we'll argue. And we'll make up. And we'll argue again," Sam laughs softly, "But I love you, Em…you know that. I want to come out on the other side of those four years with you. And I want you to know that I'm committed to that."

"So it's a promise ring?"

"Yeah," Sam nods, "A promise ring."

"You are too sweet," Emily says as she rolls on her side and presses a kiss to Sam's lips, "I love you too."

"So you'll wear it?" Sam asks.

"Of course," Emily grins and hands the box back to Sam, "Put it on?"

"You are such a girl sometimes," Sam laughs as she takes the ring out and slides it onto Emily's ring finger, "Fit okay?"

"Fits perfect," Emily assures her with a quick kiss, "Now you're stuck going shopping with me so we can pick out one for you."

* * *

[TBC]


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes:** I know, I know, I know. I am the worst. I do wholeheartedly apologize that it has taken so long to get this chapter up. I've been dealing with some personal issues in the last month and it has not leant itself to writing anything no matter how much I tried. But I did get around to finishing this chapter and I hope I'm on the way up so I can keep getting stuff out to you.

Please read and review and let me know what you think! I'm thinking we'll wrap up S1 of the Closer in the next chapter.

* * *

Sharon sighs as she steps into the house, shutting the door to the garage quietly behind herself. She makes a face as she tugs off her heels and holds the straps in her free hand before trudging up the stairs. She pads across the floor to the kitchen and heaves a few grocery bags up onto the island along with her work bag, dropping the shoes onto the floor with a soft clatter before starting to put the groceries away.

Once the bags are emptied she bundles them up and stuffs them into the holder that they had next to the fridge and takes a few moments to peruse the contents before pulling out a couple of Tupperware containers. Sharon grabs a plate down and puts some food on it before putting it in the microwave and punching in a time. She jumps as she feels a pair of tiny arms wrap around her waist before turning around and smiling tiredly when she sees her youngest son standing behind her.

"What are you doing up, little man?"

"I heard the garage," Drew whispers as he wraps his arms tighter around his mother, "I missed you, are you home now?"

"I am home now," Sharon nods and runs her fingers through his hair. She'd been at work for three days straight working on an officer involved shooting and it lead to her missing one of Libby's piano recitals, a baseball game for Ricky, and date night with Andy. It was rare that she missed out on the kids' events, generally able to sneak away for an hour to run down to the school or the ball diamond. And even though he'd ended up with his own case, she hated having to reschedule on Andy. It was rare that they'd have actual plans to spend time together, that she'd put on a nice dress and he a flirtatious smile, and for a few hours they'd forget about their responsibilities.

Sharon turns around again when the microwave dings and pulls out her food, grabbing a fork before nudging Drew towards the living room. She sinks down onto the couch with the boy and holds him close as she balances her plate on her leg and eats. Once she finishes she puts her plate on the coffee table and groans softly as she leans back and pulls Drew with her, stretching out on the sofa and pulling the blanket draped across the back over them. Her eyes quickly droop closed and she finds herself easily falling asleep.

Early in the morning, Sharon and Drew both snap awake as they hear her bag thud to the ground in the kitchen. Sharon winces and groans as the sunlight flares into her eyes, bringing her hand up to cover them. She untangles herself from the blanket and Drew before sitting up and jumping as her foot comes into contact with the cold ceramic of her dinner plate. She sighs as she notices it's licked clean, leaning down to pick it up before heading into the kitchen. She claps her hands loudly together once to startle the dog as she notices her standing up at the island with her nose buried in the container of leftovers she'd forgotten to put away.

"LYLA! Get down!" Sharon reprimands and pulls the dog back before leaning down to pick up her bag and its spilled contents. She quickly stuffs everything back together before throwing out the left overs and putting all of the dishes into the dishwasher. Sharon grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder before shuffling down the hallway to the bedroom. She drops the bag at the end of the bed and sheds her shirt and pants, leaving them on the floor as she climbs into bed next to Andy. She shuffles closer to her husband and wraps her arms around him from behind.

"Mmm, you're not just getting home are you?"

"No, got home around three, fell asleep on the couch with Drew," Sharon mumbles and buries her nose into the space between his shoulder blades before closing her eyes again, "Time you get home?"

"Little after 11," Andy replies, covering Sharon's hand with his own, "Kids are staying home today."

"Good," Sharon murmurs before starting to drift back to sleep. The two of them manage to get a few more hours in before Ricky flops into the middle of the bed on top of both of them.

"Richard!" Sharon groans and pulls the blanket tighter around her as she rolls out from underneath him.

"Emily wanted me to check and see if you were alive and wanting to eat," Ricky says as he sinks into the space vacated by his mother, "She's making breakfast."

"Yeah, yeah," Sharon nods, not opening her eyes yet, "We'll be down in a few minutes."

"Mmkay," Ricky shrugs before climbing out of the bed, trying his hardest to dislodge his parents as much as possible before he heads down the hallway. Andy groans and snuggles closer to Sharon, wrapping his arms around her and tugging her closer.

"That boy."

"I know," Sharon sighs and leans back into Andy's hold, turning her head to capture his lips, "I am starving though."

"Me too," He agrees, holding onto her for a moment longer before letting go and rolling out of bed. He stumbles into the closet before returning a few minutes later dressed in sweatpants and a Dodger t-shirt. He holds out a pair of leggings and an oversized sweater to his wife. She thanks him and takes the clothes finally slipping out from beneath the sheets. She discards her bra onto the floor with her work clothes before pulling the shirt over her head and starting to pull the leggings up her legs. She stands and hops to finish pulling the leggings up before bending down to grab her discarded clothes and deposit them into the hamper.

Andy puts his hand on Sharon's back as they make their way down the hall, the scent of food getting heavier as they get closer to the kitchen. He spots Charlie in the kitchen with Emily, buttering slices of toast as she stands in front of the stove. Sharon steps away to greet the twins and Ricky, taking her spot at the dining room table as Andy continues into the kitchen.

"Hey, when did you get in?" Andy asks his son as he pulls down two mugs and grabs the coffee pot to fill them.

"Last night. Ricky and I were playing some games, but we went to bed probably a little before you got home."

"That's a pretty responsible time for summer break."

"They were tired because they didn't sleep the night before because they spent it up playing games again," Emily throws her brother under the bus, "And they both had practice yesterday."

"At least we came up for air a few times, unlike someone who was being eaten by their girlfriend."

"And where were the twins during all of this?" Andy asks with an amused smirk.

"In bed," Emily assures him, "At their normal bed time."

"Thank you for watching them the last few days," Andy tells Emily, pressing a kiss to her head, "What's for breakfast?"

"Hashbrowns, ham, and eggs," She responds, "How do you want your eggs?"

"Your mom and I will do over medium. Thank you," Andy orders before carrying the coffee into the dining room, handing the second mug to Sharon.

"Thank you," Sharon hums as she takes a sip of the warm liquid, "How was your case?"

"Stupid priority homicide…" Andy grumbles, "I swear…"

Sharon rolls her eyes with a soft sigh. Almost the entire summer Andy had been going back and forth working with Priority Homicide, only to usually end up with menial tasks from 'Miss Atlanta' as he'd taken to referring to Brenda as. She knew he was being egged on by Taylor, but he was smart enough to keep most of the goings on to himself, lest he unknowingly get himself in trouble by direct admission to someone in PSB. She takes another long sip and sets the cup down onto the table, running her fingers through her daughter's long auburn hair as she leans into her.

"You missed my recital," Libby tells her mother as she leans her head back to look up at her, hazel staring into hazel. The girl's brow was slightly furrowed and a frown turned the corners of her mouth down. She had inherited her facial features and each frown and smile was like looking into a mirror of her nine year old self.

"I know I did," Sharon sighs softly and rubs her hand up and down Libby's back, "I'm sorry I couldn't get away this time. But I heard you did very well, you'll have to give me an encore sometime today. Okay?"

"Okay," Libby smiles. Sharon leans over and presses a kiss to her head before looking up as Emily comes out carrying two plates. She sets one down in front of Andy and reaches over to set the other in front of her mother. Emily's ring gleams in the sunlight and Sharon grabs her daughter's hand before she can pull it back.

"What is this?"

"Oh…" Emily blushes as she notices what had gotten her mother's attention, "Sam gave it to me a few weeks ago. It's a promise ring."

"A promise ring?" Sharon arches her eyebrow.

"Yeah," Emily pulls her hand back and wiggles her fingers gently as she looks at the ring with a small smile before going back into the kitchen. Sharon looks at her husband and arches her eyebrow even further.

"Did you know anything about this?"

"No," Andy shakes his head as he stabs the yolk of his eggs with a slice of toast before taking a bite.

"Aren't you a little curious?"

"Why?" Ricky butts in, "It's a promise ring it's not like it's an engagement ring."

"It could be," Sharon replies, "It could be a promise that some day they will get engaged."

"I didn't leave the house!" Emily yells from the kitchen, "I can still hear you!"

Sharon gives her husband a pointed look before starting to eat her breakfast. Emily and Charlie bring out plates for everyone else a few moments later and she takes a seat next to her mother, sprinkling hot sauce over her eggs. She picks up her fork and starts to eat, deciding not to indulge her mother's less than subtle probing about the ring.

After breakfast the twins and Ricky clear the table and Charlie excuses himself to get ready for work. He had picked up a summer job at the pool his swim team practiced at. It was a casual few hours a week but at least it was some spending money he didn't need to ask his parents for. Emily wraps her hands around the coffee mug in front of her and lifts it to her mouth, taking a small sip of the heavily creamed concoction. She looks up and catches her father's eyes before looking over at her mother.

"You had some questions?"

"I just want to make sure you're not running head first into anything," Sharon points out.

"I love Sam," Emily says simply, "And when she gave me this ring it was with the intention that in four years…we'd come out on the other side of college together."

"That's a big promise to make," Andy tells her.

"It is, and I know that things can change. I'm not necessarily going to be the same person I am right now in four years when I graduate…"

"That's true," Sharon nods.

"But I also know that Sam isn't necessarily going to be the same person. We're going to grow together and apart, but that's the exact same thing we've been doing since preschool," Emily points out. She looks down at the ring on her finger again, "She didn't have to get me anything. She could have broken up with me. But instead she worked extra shifts, and picked out something she knew I would like, and we made a promise that we were going to try. That's all we're going to do."

"You don't feel pressured or anything do you?"

"No," Emily shakes her head with a wide smile, "I feel very happy."

"That's good," Sharon smiles back and tucks a long strand of dark brown hair behind Emily's ear, "We just worry about you sometimes."

" _You_ worry about me, Dad worries about you worrying about me," Emily jokes, "Besides would it be so terrible if we did end up getting married?"

"No," Sharon shakes her head, "I like Sam, you know that. I just...Your father and Vicky were high school sweethearts and I met Jack when I was in college. We want better for you."

"Me too," Emily agrees, "Sam is my better."

"When did you become such an adult?" Sharon asks with a small smile, leaning over to press a kiss to her daughter's forehead before yawning softly. She covers her mouth and offers an apologetic smile, "Sorry."

"It's okay. Did you finish your case?"

"I did," She nods, "I did. Very glad to be home and off for a couple days. Maybe we can do something together tomorrow once I don't feel like a zombie."

"Nails?" Emily perks up.

"Sure we can do nails," Sharon assures her, "We can go get you a new suitcase too. The big one you have is falling apart, and you'll need to take it to college with you."

"Nails _and_ shopping. I should just melt the credit card right now," Andy quips. Emily laughs and Sharon strikes her foot out under the table, kicking him in the shin, "Ow!"

"Not so funny now are you, Flynn?" Sharon grins before getting up to go check on how the cleanup process was coming. She checks on the kids before starting to go through the fridge, noting that they were starting to run low with six kids to feed. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen out of the junk drawer she starts to make a list so they could go to the store later in the day.

Andy and Sharon spend the rest of the morning catching up with the kids before she excuses herself to go take a shower so she could make her trip to the store. A few minutes later she steps forward as the door to the shower opens and Andy steps inside.

"Fancy seeing you here," Sharon smiles and squeezes some conditioner into her hand before starting to work it through her hair.

"Well everyone wants to go to the store now, so I thought I'd provide some backup," Andy tells her as he reaches for his bottle of soap.

"Oh do they now?" Sharon hums as she uses a sudsed up loofah to wash herself off, "And what do they think they're getting out of it?"

"Sleep deprived parents that will give them whatever snacks they want," He guesses with a tired grin.

"They're too smart," She comments as she pushes him out of the way to step under the spray and rinse off. She presses a soft but lingering kiss to his lips before stepping out of the shower and grabbing her robe. She wraps it around her body and sighs softly as she grabs a towel to wring her hair out with. Some face cream is applied and she runs a wide tooth comb through her hair, deciding to let it dry naturally before heading off to get dressed. She grabs a comfortable pair of jeans as well as a nicer short sleeve shirt before starting to dress. She flips her hair out from underneath the t-shirt's collar and grabs a pair of sandals on her way back into the bedroom. She playfully slaps Andy on the ass with the bottom of one of her shoes as he walks by with a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Hey!" Andy jumps and points his finger at her with a grin, "Watch it, Flynn."

"Oh I'll watch it all day," Sharon winks before heading into the bathroom. He hears her sandals hit the tile as he walks into the closet to get dressed. A few minutes later he emerges in jeans and a black t-shirt, running his fingers through his hair to shake it out. He needed a trim, so did Ricky and Drew. He'd have to remember to take them while he had a couple days off. Sharon comes out, finishing rubbing lotion into her arms and smiles at him from behind a pair of black frames, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Andy smiles and leans down to kiss her, "I love you, you know that?"

"I love you too," Sharon reciprocates his smile and strokes his cheek before grabbing her wallet out of her purse and following him down the hall to gather the kids.

"Can I drive?" Ricky asks as they make their way out to the garage.

"No," Sharon answers quickly and simply.

"But Moooooom," Ricky whines as he opens the door to the garage, reaching up to press the button to lift the garage door as well.

"You know that it's against the rules for you to drive with your siblings in the car right now. Only your dad and I can drive with you."

"Oh my god the rules," Ricky rolls his eyes.

"Richard," Sharon warns as she takes the keys from her husband before rounding the car to the drivers side. Ricky grumbles as he climbs in the back seat with everyone. Andy gets in the passenger side as Sharon starts the car, waiting for everyone to buckle up before pulling out of the garage. His hand easily finds hers over the center console as they drive while listening to the kids chatter back and forth in the back seat.

At the store they manage to find a spot relatively close to the entrance before everyone climbs out of the car. Andy snags a cart on the way into the store, intent on pushing it for his wife as they make their way through the aisles. Their pass through the produce department takes the longest as they both encourage the kids to pick out fruits and vegetables they would eat while picking out some general staples to have around the house. There's a trip to the deli counter to pick up a couple pounds of lunch meat for sandwiches and snacks. They get a few loaves of bread from the bakery before heading towards the interior aisles and starting to walk them. The kids stick close to them only wandering a little further ahead in the aisles sometimes. Occasionally they ask for a box or a bag of something and _occasionally_ they're rewarded by being able to put their choice into the cart. Sharon goes to bypass the candy aisle but Libby stops her, reminding that she had promised they could make chocolate chip cookies that afternoon and they were all out of chocolate chips.

"How do you know we're all out of chocolate chips?" Sharon asks as she turns down the aisle, her eyes scanning the shelves for the signature yellow Nestle bag.

"I ate them," Libby says simply.

"Elizabeth," Sharon chides.

"What, Emmy said I could have them," Libby tells her before she spots the bag and reaches up to grab it, "It's not like I ate them all in one day."

"I should hope not," Sharon replies, helping her daughter grab two of the bags. She turns slightly as she hears a groan leave Andy's lips before turning back around to where his eyes were locked watching Brenda make her way down the aisle. She had a basket hooked on her wrist and was perusing the selection of high end chocolate bars on the shelf in front of her. Sharon turns back around and arches her eyebrow at her husband. She'd only ever gotten a quick fleeting glimpse of the woman at the office, but due to Andy's adverse reaction she could only assume it was the woman he had come to detest.

"Is that her?" She practically mouths. Andy's face contorts in a grimace and he nods.

"Mom, can we get a bag of M&Ms instead?" Libby asks, already shoving one of the bags of chocolate chips back onto the shelf before taking off towards the M&Ms which were right next to where Brenda was standing. She pauses for a moment, waiting to see if the woman was going to make a selection before verbally butting in, "Excuse me."

"Oh!" Brenda exclaims softly and steps back from the shelf, letting Libby in, "Excuse me."

Libby grabs a bag of baking M&Ms before rushing back over to the cart and dropping them in, lest her mother disagree with her choice. Brenda's eyes follow the girl back to the cart before widening as she notices the grey haired lieutenant standing at the cart waiting for her.

"Lieutenant Flynn," Brenda greets as her face wills itself back to normal and she makes the few steps to the family, "Fancy runnin' into you here."

"Yeah, fancy that," Andy grumbles before glaring at Sharon as she elbows him in the side. He knew that glare well. It was the one that said be polite lest I castrate you later, "Grocery shopping, Chief?"

"Just picking up some essentials," Brenda comments even though her basket was filled almost entirely with sugary snacks, "You?"

"The kids insist on eating so we try to keep the fridge full," Andy says with a wolfish grin.

"And yet you tell us not to eat everything when you leave in the morning," Ricky pipes up. Andy rolls his eyes and throws a look at his son before turning back to Brenda.

"Chief, I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting my wife, Sharon."

"No I haven't had a chance to meet any of y'alls families yet," Brenda says as she reaches out to shake Sharon's hand, "Still trying to get settled in. Brenda Leigh Johnson."

"Nice to meet you," Sharon smiles politely.

"And who else do we have here?" Brenda inquires, trying to remember the civilities her mother had tried to instill in her as she was growing up.

"Ah, Libby, Drew, and Ricky...Emily is around here somewhere..." Andy scratches his head, "And two more who didn't make the trip with us. Guys, this is Deputy Chief Johnson."

"You work with my dad?" Drew asks.

"I do," Brenda nods and smiles, "That's quite the family you have, Lieutenant."

"They do," Andy grins and ruffles Drew's hair before catching Sharon's eye. He pulls his hand back and puts it back on the cart, "We shouldn't keep you. Enjoy the day off."

"You as well," Brenda nods, watching the Flynn family go before heading in the opposite direction with a bit of a furrow between her brows. Andy Flynn had never struck her as the family man she had just met, if anything she would have categorized him as a chauvinistic womanizer.

* * *

[TBC]


	7. Chapter 7

Sharon looks up as her husband stalks into her office, shutting the door slowly behind himself. He doesn't slump into a chair he simply stands in front of her with his fists stuffed into his pockets and his eyes trained on the ground.

"Andy?" Sharon prods after a couple minutes of silence.

"Croelick is getting out," Andy mumbles, looking up at her finally with less than concealed rage in his eyes. She could tell his body was tense with anger.

"Croelick? On what grounds?" Sharon asks as she stands up and walks around her desk, she pulls the blinds closed before standing closer to Andy and leaning back against her desk with her arms crossed.

"Lisa Barnes just showed up dead," Andy growls, "We have less than 24 hours to prove that Croelick committed the murder of who we thought was Lisa Barnes...Well Priority Homicide does."

"Son of a bitch," Sharon murmurs with a shake of her head, "I'm sorry...is there anything I can do for help?"

"No," Andy shakes his head, "I just...needed two minutes before we started this back up again."

"Of course," Sharon nods and reaches out to grab him by the tie and pulls him closer. She wraps her arms around him in a hug and squeezes him tight as she murmurs in his ear, "You know Croelick is good for something, I know you'll work it out."

"At least one of us has a little faith," Andy sighs as he squeezes her closer as well. The two step apart a few moments later before Andy grabs the door handle and pulls it open, "Don't wait up tonight."

"I won't," Sharon sighs as she watches him go.

* * *

"I just think that Internal Affairs should investigate this whole situation," Taylor comments before taking a seat. Andy's eyes stay on him as Pope asks Brenda if she agrees on the situation. He's surprised when she says that she doesn't necessarily, and wants to have a private conversation with him. The two end up in an open office after a few minutes and Andy feels his anger bubbling below the surface as he leans against the table in front of the blonde.

"You must be so happy right now," Andy grumbles as he crosses his arms, "Can't wait like to see me get ripped apart, God…"

"You know what in the general scheme of things you matter to me about as much as a Junebug in July. But if you aren't interested in keeping your job and your rank you better answer my questions Lieutenant and without all the usual crap I have to take from you." Andy sheepishly shrugs and nods before letting her continue.

"Four years ago Samantha Jones, a rape victim was murdered. In the same way that Croelick kills his victims." "Looks that way," Andy tentatively agrees.

"Another coincidence, Samantha was the same height, weight, coloring as another missing girl - Lisa Barnes, a drug addict, living on the streets."

"They do look a lot alike," Andy agrees, "Hey, I don't know if someone wanted to frame Bill Croelick or if someone wanted us to think that Lisa Barnes was dead or if someone wanted us to misidentify Samantha Jones."

"Someone planted Lisa's drivers license on the scene. Did you do that, Lieutenant?" Brenda questions, "Did you tamper with the evidence because you saw a promotion in your future?"

Andy stands from his spot, towering his height over Brenda as he answers in one simple word, "No."

He turns to grab a cup of water before Brenda starts asking him about the print packages and why H didn't show up to the courthouse.

"It was late, the case was over," Andy tells her, "Look, the last package didn't help anyway, they were partials and palm prints."

"You mean they didn't match Bill Croelick's."

"So? The car was stolen, the partials could have belonged to anyone."

"The prints were on the car? There were palm prints other than Croelick's on the car? Where were they on the car?"

"Over the tail light," Andy remembers starting to get heated as he recounts everything to Brenda, "SID got to it late. They weren't material…look, there was no palm print database back then. And you can't find a criminal with it you can only match it to someone you already have in custody. What did I do wrong? You tell me!"

"Get me the tail light off that car," Brenda demands as she starts slamming her things back together, continuing with her request, "…And you keep this information completely to yourself. Do you understand me? Because that is a direct order."

"Yes ma'am," Andy agrees, "Uh…you're not going to move to have me investigated?"

"No," Brenda shakes her head slightly, "Now get me the print packages for that car."

* * *

Sharon jumps as she hears a crash and muffled yelling. She looks up at the empty office and sees everything in pristine condition before looking down at the floor and sighing. Priority Homicide was right underneath her office. And that kind of volume could only be mustered by her husband. She resists the urge to heavily stomp like she sometimes did to get the kids' attention at home before packing up her things into her purse and getting ready to go. She'd stayed late enough as it was.

At the elevator she debates going downstairs to see what was going on before pressing the button for the parking garage. She'd text Andy once she got to her car. She wades through the dozens and dozens of cruisers parked before she finds her way to the Land Cruiser. She unlocks the doors and tosses her bag into the passenger seat before climbing up and digging out her phone. She sends a short text to Andy letting him know that she was heading home and if he was going to be home in the next couple hours to pick up some Chinese on his way.

Sharon finds her keys and deposits her phone back in her purse before turning the car on and backing out of her parking space. She makes her way home, humming along quietly to the radio, frowning when she approaches the house and sees someone sitting at their doorstep. She can see the lights on in the living room, so at least someone was up. She cruises by the house intent on making a lap of the neighborhood before she comes back. Her hand reaches over and digs her phone out again before pressing the speed dial number for the house.

"Flynn Residence," Emily answers a moment later.

"Call your dad and tell him someone is outside the house."

"What?"

"There's someone sitting outside on the front stoop. Call your dad and tell him. I'm just turning the corner again and I'm going to park. Take whoever is still awake downstairs okay?"

"Okay," Emily hangs up and picks the phone back up a moment later to dial her dad's cellphone, "Dad!"

"Hey Em, what's up?" Andy greets at his daughter's worried tone.

"Mom said someone's sitting outside in front of the house," Emily practically whispers into the phone.

"Who?"

"I don't know, I think she did a lap of the block while she called..."

"Alright, take everyone you can downstairs, I'm calling dispatch and I'll be on my way," Andy tells her as he waves his hand to get Provenza's attention, "Stay on the phone with me okay?"

"Okay," Emily nods before gesturing her brother down the stairs along with Sam, "Go."

"What's up?" Provenza asks as he walks over to Andy. Andy holds the phone to his shoulder as he explains the situation to his friend, "I'll call patrol and have them send a couple close by cars over, you go."

"Thank you," Andy mouths as he puts his phone back to his ear and starts making his way downstairs with a quick step. He rushes home, his fingers itching to turn on the lights. Eventually he does flip the switch to make his way through the thick evening traffic. He turns them off just as he comes up their street, finding two patrol cars there and Sharon sitting on the small bench they had talking to an officer with her gun sitting next to her. He parks the car on the street and jumps out, hanging up his phone before rushing up the walk, "What happened?"

"Your friend Bill decided to show up and camp outside our house," Sharon tells him, indicating the other officer who was talking to Bill by the patrol car.

"That son of a bitch," Andy seethes under his breath.

"It's fine, the kids are fine..." Sharon assures him, "These officers are going to help him back to his car, unless of course Mr. Croelick is too drunk to drive safely, they'll give him a ride home. Go inside, I'll finish dealing with this."

"Sharon..."

"Go," Sharon says pointedly, nodding towards the door, "The kids should..."

"Be downstairs," Andy finishes before walking into the house, trying to restrain himself from slamming the door behind himself.

"Mom? Dad?" Emily calls up from downstairs.

"You guys can come up," Andy tells them as he puts his gun into the safe and drops his badge on the entry table. He pulls his tie loose and undoes the first button of his shirt, sighing as he gives his neck a good scratch.

"Who was that guy?" Emily asks as she pulls up the rear behind Ricky and Sam.

"Just..." Just what? What was Bill Croelick? Right now he wasn't anything besides a wronged citizen, "Just someone trying to spook me."

"Well can we not have people doing that? It scared the crap out of me."

"I know," Andy nods and wraps his arm around his daughter, hugging her close.

"I thought our address was supposed to be on lock down or something," Ricky points out, "Because of yours and mom's jobs."

"It is, but some people are good at finding a way around that," Andy shrugs. He'd been married to Sharon for 13 years at that point, people knew they were married. He wouldn't be surprised if Croelick followed her home the past night if only to prepare himself for a little more direct of a message that evening. He just wished they didn't have to worry about something happening to the kids because of who they were.

Sharon comes in a few minutes later after seeing the officers and Croelick off. Andy had sent the kids to bed and was currently standing in front of the fridge with his hands on both of the doors. She easily walks up behind him and wraps her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry that all of this happened."

"Me too," Andy sighs and rests his hand over hers, squeezing. The two stand in silence for a moment before he speaks again, "I'm applying for transfer to Priority Homicide."

"What? Why? I thought you hated it?"

"Better than Taylor," is all Andy replies with before pulling out a frozen pizza and going to turn on the oven.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," Andy shakes his head, "Just stupid bureaucratic bullshit. You'd think he was gunning for the Pope's job with how he's learning to play politics."

"Oh of that, I have no idea. He was just as jaded as I was that he wasn't given a chance at that position. He just bitched about it more," Sharon laughs as she takes a seat on one of the stools. She unclips her hair and takes off her glasses as she kicks off her shoes, letting out a soft sigh.

"Better?"

"Much," Sharon smiles and tips her head up for a kiss. She hums as Andy presses his lips against hers and responds gently before pulling back, "Just remember to keep that fine backside of yours in line even with Miss Atlanta."

"Yes, Ma'am."

* * *

[TBC]


	8. Chapter 8

Note: Sorry for the wait on this. I'm jumping into the second season, but I'm at the moment leaving them as happening relatively one right after the other instead of the next summer and such. Thanks to **Still Lost in Translation** for this idea and walking me through some key points, much appreciated! Everyone enjoy!

* * *

Andy walks into the bedroom, rubbing a towel over his head with his boxers slung low on his hips. His skin was only slightly damp from his shower and he was just finishing drying off his hair. The towel gets tossed into the hamper and he eyeballs his wife who was laying on her side of the bed reading and chewing on her bottom lip. She'd been quiet since they had dropped all of the kids off at college the week before. Emily was tucked into her dorm at NYU, Sam at Yale, Charlie at USC, and Nicole was moved into her new apartment in Philadelphia. The twins and Ricky had another week before they were due back at school and then it was another summer vacation in the books.

"What are you reading?" Andy asks, even though he could see the title clearly from his position.

"Hmm?"

"Book."

"Oh…uh," Sharon shakes her head and looks at the cover before showing it to Andy, _Looking for Alaska_.

"Any good?"

"I don't know, I've been staring at the words for the last hour and haven't absorbed a thing," Sharon says as she puts her bookmark in and closes the book. She puts it back on her night stand and takes her glasses off, rubbing her eyes.

"What's on your mind?"

"It's so quiet," Sharon says as she shakes her head, "The twins are in bed and Ricky's in his room playing computer games…"

"Sounds like a good nights sleep to me," Andy comments as he grabs a t-shirt and pulls it on before climbing in bed. Sharon rolls her eyes and shuffles down in bed.

"Never mind…"

"Shar. Come on, talk to me. You've been down all week."

"I just told you. It's quiet," Sharon repeats. She lays on her side facing Andy, tucking her hand under her pillow before sighing.

"Of course it's quiet, we only have three kids in the house."

"It's been constant noise the last…fifteen years…I like noise, I love noise…I miss the noise," Sharon pouts.

"Sharon," Andy shakes his head and shuffles closer wrapping his arms around her, "Yes, the nest is emptying out, but it is by no means going to be empty for quite a while. Besides they'll allllll be back for Christmas, just in time to put you in peak cheer mode."

"I suppose you're right," Sharon wraps her arms back around him and buries her face into his shoulder, letting out one more long sigh, "I just miss them already."

"It'll get easier," Andy promises her as he rubs his hand up and down her back, "You can play hooky tomorrow and come to the Dodger game with Provenza and I."

"Mmm, as entrancing as that seems," Sharon replies teasingly. The Priority Homicide squad had just finished up a case that had started the day they'd gotten back from moving the kids and had earned a couple of days off. She and Andy had been gifted skybox tickets from Sam's parents in exchange for helping her move into her dorm at Yale. Sharon had insisted that Andy use them himself and he'd decided to offer to take Provenza provided they'd ended up with a day off on a game day that the tickets were useful for, "You only have two tickets. And you already told Provenza you'd take him."

"We can play hooky from that."

"I'll survive," Sharon smiles, "Besides work keeps my mind off of it a bit."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Sharon nods. Andy presses a kiss to her forehead and squeezes her close.

"I love you."

"I love you too," She whispers. She tangles her legs with his and they get situated into their usual position before starting to drift off. In the morning Sharon gets ready for work and leaves her husband in bed with a kiss to the forehead, pulling the blankets up a little bit more. She corrals the kids downstairs to the car and climbs into the driver's side, jumping when she feels a prick in her back end. She lifts her hips slightly and growls as she pulls a toothpick out from the seat before dropping it in the cupholder, "I swear, one more time…"

Sharon shakes her head before backing out of the garage and heading towards downtown. She drops the twins off at their day camp and drops Ricky off at a friend's house before heading into work herself. Her briefcase gets dropped on her chair as she surveys the new stack of reports on her desk, deciding it wasn't too terrible. She shrugs off her blazer and hangs it on the back of her chair before going in search of a cup of hot water for some tea.

Andy wakes up a couple hours after Sharon leaves and stretches out in bed with a groan as his tired muscles protest. He putters around the house for a while, making himself breakfast and taking in the sports highlights for the last few days before getting ready for the game. Heading down to the garage he unlocks the Land Cruiser and climbs up, stuffing the keys in the ignition and groaning when he doesn't get a response besides some clicking. He tries a few more times before climbing down and reaching for the lever to pop the hood. He braces the hood into an open position before starting to take a look at the guts of the car.

The car had been acting up since they'd gotten home but they hadn't had the chance to take it in. If both of them were honest it was most likely on it's last legs and they needed to go through with the replacement they had planned. Andy sighs and scratches his head before reaching in to see if he could find the issue. He futzes around for a while before finally getting the car to start, leaving it running as he washes up real quick before climbing in and heading over to pick up Provenza, knowing his friend was going to be all over him for being "late" even though they were going to make it to the game on time still. As long as the car cooperated.

After quite a few shudders at lights and one complete turn off, Andy finally makes it to Provenza's house, pulling up out front as he finds his friend waiting at the end of the driveway with a grumpy look on his face.

"What the hell took you so long?!" Provenza demands as he steps up to the window, "The game starts in 10 minutes."

"It took me half an hour to get this piece of crap started! It died on me once on the way over here," Andy responds, his tone already tinged with annoyance, "I think we should take your car, I'm just saying."

"Alright, but let's go!" Provenza yells as he steps away from the car so Andy can park the car in front of the house. The older man bickers at his friend the entire length of the driveway before pressing the button to open the garage. Both of them stop and gawk as the door opens to reveal a blonde in a pink skirt suit lying dead on the floor. His thumb presses the button once more to close the door before they both look at each other.

"Anything you want to tell me?" Andy asks, toothpick hanging out of his mouth as he regards his friend.

"What you think I know something about this?" Provenza replies, immediately affronted at the thought that he'd had anything to do with it. The two go back and forth before the garage door opens again and they squat down next to the body. Andy starts snapping a few pictures before Provenza snaps at him asking what he was doing.

"I'm taking some pictures, do you mind?"

"The game starts in five minutes!" Provenza haughtily reminds him.

"Can we pretend like we're police officers?" Andy gestures before sighing and looking between the body and his car, "Alright, let's do this. If my car starts, we go to the game. If it doesn't, we stay here and deal with this."

With any luck that he had left in his life Andy managed to get the car started in one go and they were quickly off to the game. It wasn't until they neared Dodger stadium that the car started to make funny noises and smoke started coming out from the edges of the hood.

"Oh what the hell," Andy grumbles as he pulls to a stop, the engine grumbling and groaning a couple times before going dead. He pops the hood once more for the day and gets out, lifting it up and groaning as smoke billows out from underneath, indicating that the car _really_ wasn't in great health anymore. The tow truck driver drops them off at Provenza's place before continuing on with the Land Cruiser to go back to the garage. The two of them trudge up the driveway and open the garage door once more, staring in shock as they find the body that had been there an hour ago missing.

MCMCMCMC**Episode Shenanigans Continue**MCMCMCMCMC

Sharon jumps as she starts to rinse the conditioner out of her hair just as the bomb threat alarms start to go off. She stands under the water in confusion for a moment before turning the water off and grabbing her towel, leaving her things on the floor of the shower as she hot foots it outside with everyone else, leaving a dripping trail behind herself. She shivers as she makes her way down the freezing staircase before stepping outside into warm air, along with about two hundred LAPD officers. Her eyes immediately cast downward as she sees a fair few pair of eyes turn towards her before she scurries off to try and find a place to hide.

Sharon looks around furiously, trying to spot her husband before remembering he had the day off. He was basically the only person she could count on to lend her a suit jacket to cover up with. She manages to find a spot behind a car and near the shrubbery by the fence. Her feet felt filthy and even though the weather was in the upper 70s she was shaking each time a breeze blew along.

It takes them about fifteen minutes to clear the building and let everyone back inside. Sharon sighs as she makes her way back in and decides to take the stairs instead of the elevator before heading back to the shower room. She washes her feet off and gives her hair another rinse before finishing up and finally getting dressed. After packing up all of her things and drying her hair Sharon hoists her bag over her shoulder before making her way back upstairs with her head held high even as she sees a few officers either ogle her or whisper behind her back as she makes her way past.

Once she's in her office she shuts the door firmly before dropping her head against the glass, banging it a few times. This is _just_ what she needed in her life right now. Sharon's surprised not to find Andy at home when she gets home with the kids later that evening, sending him a text message to see where he was. He only texts her back that he'd gotten rolled out and that he'd call when he got the chance. She didn't hear from him again until the next evening when he stalked into her office, tucking a piece of paper into his breast pocket.

"Hey," She greets, setting down her pen. She was just finishing up her last report for the evening and then was leaving to get the kids, "How was your case?"

"Oh…it was interesting," Andy sighs softly as he sinks down into the chair across from her, "Sorry I never called."

"It's okay," Sharon assures him.

"How long until you're done? I need a ride."

"You need a ride? Where's the car?"

"At a garage," Andy groans and rubs his hands over his face, "These last two days…"

"Sounds like they've been a little rough. How was the game?" She asks innocently. The look Andy gives her as he looks over the tips of his fingers could have killed, "Not good I'm guessing."

"If I tell you what's happened over the last two days you have to promise me that I'm simply talking to my wife. I'm not talking to Captain O'Dwyer, she can't even be in the building."

"I'm terrified and intrigued at the same time," She replies, biting her lip, "Let me finish this report and then we can head home, and you can tell me about your day."

"Thank you," Andy sighs, relieved. He waits for her to finish her report before following her downstairs to their other car and climbing in the passenger seat. He begins to recount the last two days to her as they make their way to pick up the kids, pausing in the story as the twins load into the back seat before they go to pick up Ricky.

Once they get home they send the kids to get cleaned up for dinner before heading into the kitchen to make dinner and Andy resumes his story. By the time he's finished he notices Sharon's grip on the knife is rather tight and her face was starting to get red.

"What?" Andy asks, stopping short in his complaining about he and Provenza having to take the team out to a nice meal and buy them each a hush present.

"You. You-you-you called in a bomb threat?! Andrew Michael Flynn!" He knew when she used his full name it was definitely his wife talking and not the Captain that seemed to continuously be slapping him on the wrist through her lackeys.

"So people had to evacuate the building for fifteen minutes, what's the big deal?"

"THE BIG DEAL IS THAT I WAS IN A TOWEL!" Sharon shouts and slams the knife down on the counter and shoots daggers at her husband as she finally looks at him, "Your bomb threat just so happened to be during my after workout shower. I had to leave the Parker Center in a towel that barely covered the important things and had half of the officers in the building ogling me."

"Nuh uh, I would have noticed you out there. _Especially_ in a towel."

"Well apparently not! Because I spent fifteen minutes freezing my wet ass off along with getting ogled by all of our co-workers!" Sharon bites back, "Of all the things you get up to…Of all the things you _and_ Provenza get up to, this tops all of it. I swear on our children this tops all of it."

"Okay…" Andy draws out, "I thought you were going to find this funny."

"Well I'm not," She growls, "And that's your wife talking. You don't even want to know what the Captain is saying in the back of my mind right now. Verbal castration rings a bell."

"Sorry?" Andy apologizes, his voice involuntarily adding an inflection at the end.

"You should be," Sharon grumbles, snatching his cutting board away from him before putting everything into the baking dish and throwing it into the oven, the door getting shut rather roughly. She rinses her hands off before storming down the hallway and slamming the door behind herself. Ricky pokes his head out of his room and finds Andy standing at the end of the hall.

"Dare I ask what you've done?"

"I don't even think I know," Andy replies with a sigh and a slump of his shoulders. By the end of the evening his pillow and a blanket were waiting for him on the couch and Sharon hadn't said another word to him, even going as far as to lock the door to the bedroom, forcing him to hope that there were clean pajamas in the laundry downstairs.

In the morning he wakes up with a crick in his neck and an ache in his back. The couch wasn't as kind as it was even a few years before. He sits up and scrubs at his face, smelling coffee before he notices his wife sitting at the kitchen table with a mug and the paper.

"Mmm, morning," He greets only getting a hum and a page turn in response. A sigh leaves his lips as he drops back down to the couch and lays there for a few moments wondering if it was okay to throw a tantrum. He grumbles as he pulls himself up off the couch and folds the blanket up. Sharon smirks behind the rim of her mug as she watches him stumble down the hallway towards their bedroom, undoubtedly to take a shower. Oh he could play so easy into her plans when needed.

Sharon gives it a few minutes until the shower starts, continuing to sip on her coffee for an additional few minutes before getting up and wandering towards the front door. She undoes the locks and opens the door before taking a deep breath and letting out a yell.

"Andy! Help!" She exclaims. Her grin doesn't leave her face as she hears the shower door slam before hearing Andy's feet carry him down the hallway and towards her. He sprints out into the front yard without a second thought, suds covering his skin and a flimsy towel wrapped around his waist. She slams the door shut behind him and locks it before returning to her coffee and the paper. She laughs to herself as he pounds on the door a few times begging to be let in before resigning himself that it wasn't going to be that simple. He was being punished.

Unsurprisingly the commotion manages to wake the kids, the three of them trudging out to the living room with varying levels of disbelief on their faces. Libby's was the least surprisingly while Ricky's was the most.

"Why is Dad outside in nothing but a towel?"

"Just a little punishment for a stunt he pulled at work."

"I thought that 'the Captain' punished him for those."

"She usually does, this one is personal," Sharon tells them, "Do you guys want breakfast?"

"Yes please," Libby nods as she climbs up into her chair. Sharon presses a kiss to her head before heading into the kitchen to start breakfast, laughing as she spots Andy out the front window, gesturing frantically towards the neighbor's house. She can hear his muffled voice through the window.

"What?! You've never seen a guy locked out of his house in a towel before? Come on!" Sharon shakes her head and gets to cracking eggs into a bowl. She makes the kids breakfast and puts their plates in front of them before approaching the front door again. By this point he'd been out there for half an hour and she was sure he'd have a worthy case against her if she let it go on any longer. Sharon opens the regular door and leaves the screen door locked in front of her as Andy rushes up, "Sharon, honey, darling…can I come inside now please."

"Maybe," Sharon leans her shoulder against the door jam and looks at him, "You're grounded though."

"Grounded? Who am I? Drew?"

"No, Drew doesn't get grounded. He's the good boy in this family," Sharon tells him with an arched eyebrow.

"What am I grounded from exactly?" Andy lifts his chin as he stares down at her, trying to put on a braver front than he was feeling.

"Provenza," Sharon says, "No hanging out with Provenza unsupervised for the next month."

"I'm grounded from friends?"

"Not friends, just this particular one."

"I repeat, who am I? Ricky?"

"You wanna make it two months?" Sharon asks. Andy groans and bangs his fist softly against the door.

"A month?"

"One month," Sharon nods, "Unless you don't want to come in that is."

"I want to come in," Andy says, "Okay, okay, okay. One month, no unsupervised visits with Provenza."

"Good boy," Sharon says as she unlocks the door before letting him in. She grabs him by the towel as he passes, pulling him to stand in front of her, "And honey, baby, darling, light of my life…if you think you're 'getting any' during that time to make up for your boys outings…you're not."

Andy groans and Sharon laughs, watching him walk away mumbling to himself about calling in bomb threats anymore.

* * *

[TBC]


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes:** Slowly closing the space between chapters! Enjoy everyone!

* * *

Sharon sighs as she drapes her blazer over her arm and makes her way down the street to the Parker Center. She'd been in court all day and was enjoying the chance to stretch her legs even though her feet were slightly aching in her heels. She looks down as she texts Andy that she was done and ready to head home, waiting to see if they were going to be able to ride together. It had been a few weeks since his stunt with the bomb threat, but she was finally starting to calm down. His 'grounding' was almost over and she was hoping that he wasn't going to let his friend to lure him into anymore shenanigans, but that was only if she was going to be totally naive about it. Provenza and Andy had been friends longer than she had known him, and from what it sounded like they'd always manage to get into some kind of situation if they spent too long in each other's company. Apparently Andy's move to Priority Homicide was to be considered spending too much time together.

Her phone beeps a few moments later with a reply saying that he would be ready to go in 10 minutes if she wanted to wait. She texts him back that she would be sitting on one of the benches outside and would see him soon. She manages to get one to herself as she leans her back against the building and sighs softly as the sun hits her face, closing her eyes. They open again after a few minutes when she hears a pair of heels approach before they begin to walk away. She winces at the bright light before putting her hand over her eyes to see who had approached her.

"Chief Johnson?" Sharon calls as she notices the bright floral skirt swinging. The blonde pauses and turns around, a smile plastered on her face.

"Mrs. Flynn, I hope I didn't disturb you," Brenda says as she steps closer again. Sharon's eyes widen slightly at being called Mrs. Flynn instead of Captain O'Dwyer this close to work. She could only determine that Brenda still didn't know that she actually worked at the department.

"Of course not. I was just waiting for Andy to get done for the day," Sharon eases into a smile, "I've been in court all day so I thought I'd take a few minutes to enjoy some sunshine and fresh air."

"Case go okay?"

"It did," Sharon nods, "It did. Was there something I could do for you?"

"I...I suppose I just had a question for you, but now I'm realizing it might be a little prying."

"Prying?" Sharon questions.

"Yes," Brenda sighs.

"Well you're always welcome to ask, though I can't promise I'll answer," Sharon grins.

"How did you...when did you...kids?" Brenda manages to stutter out before shaking her head. This was stupid. How could she ask one of her subordinate's wives about this.

"How did I know when I wanted to have kids?" Sharon sums up from the choppy question as Brenda nods.

"Yeah."

"I've always wanted to have a family of my own. Ever since I was a little girl," Sharon answers, "But for some people it can be more timing than necessarily whether or not they want to do it."

"How did you know it was the right time?"

"Emily I had been waiting for for years. After that they were surprises to put it lightly. But none of them any less wanted," Sharon laughs softly, "It's not for everyone though. I've met people who have kids because they think it's what they're supposed to do. Sometimes they find out that they did really want it, but more often than not it doesn't seem to end up that way."

"Right," Brenda nods.

"There's nothing wrong with not having or wanting kids. There's nothing wrong with not liking them either," Sharon assures her as she notices the look in her eyes, "Trust me. And if you're on the fence you're always welcome to babysit."

"No!" Brenda jumps and practically shouts, "No, thank you. I mean."

Sharon laughs softly and looks past Brenda with a smile when she sees Andy walking over. She leans her chin up and accepts a kiss from her husband as she wraps her arm around his waist in greeting.

"Hey, Chief."

"Headed out for the evening, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah, I left some files on your desk."

"Thank you," Brenda nods slightly, "You two have a good evening."

"You too, Chief," Andy says before Brenda continues to make her way into the building, "What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing, she was just asking about the kids," Sharon tells him before pressing another kiss to his lips, "Ready?"

"Yeah," Andy nods and the two of them head for the parking garage, "What do you want to do for dinner tonight?"

"Do you mind cooking?" Sharon asks as she leans into him, "I know there's some chicken in the fridge, I'm sure you could wrangle something together."

"Sure, I'll cook," Andy smiles and kisses Sharon's head before opening the car door for her, "Long day?"

"Just spent it entirely at the court house," Sharon tells him as she climbs in, "Three cases I had to testify in got called up. All on the same day."

"That sounds awful," Andy tells her after walking around to the other side of the car and getting in.

"It wasn't terrible, just a long day," Sharon replies, taking his hand in hers and stroking her thumb over his knuckles. She leans her head back and closes her eyes as he starts to drive, dozing slightly until they get home. Sharon follows Andy inside and kisses the back of his shoulder before heading down the hallway towards their bedroom. She takes her makeup off and rakes a comb through her hair before changing into a t-shirt and a pair of leggings. Going out to the living room, she collapses onto the couch and sighs happily as her body sinks into the cushions. She starts to doze off again before starting awake after realizing the house was too quiet, "Did we forget the kids?"

"No, they're getting rides home today. Should be home in the next hour or so," Andy replies as he checks his watch.

"Oh thank god," Sharon mumbles as she drops back down and closes her eyes, intent on taking a short nap. She manages to get a decent nap in, waking up when she starts to smell food and hears voices in the kitchen. She slips off of the couch and stretches out before padding into the kitchen where the kids were helping Andy with dinner, "Hey you guys."

"Hi Mom," Ricky wraps an arm around his mom and gives her a quick squeeze. Sharon kisses him on the cheek before wrapping her arms around the twins and giving each of them a hug hello.

"I think we'll be done here in a few minutes," Andy tells his wife with a smile, "If you want to set the table."

"Sure," Sharon nods and pushes up on her toes to kiss his cheek before grabbing plates out of the cupboard and heading into the dining room. She gets the table set as Andy finishes dinner, sinking down into her seat as he carries out the main dish and Drew carries out a giant bowl of salad. She takes the bowl from the boy and thanks him for helping before starting to serve herself, "This looks delicious. Thank you all for cooking."

"It's just chicken picata," Andy says as he takes the salad bowl and helps Libby to some of it before serving himself.

"Still, it looks delicious."

"Well thank you," Andy smiles at her before handing the bowl over to Ricky. The five of them have dinner together, Ricky loading the dishwasher while Sharon and Andy help the twins with their homework for the evening. Once they're done the twins go to watch tv as Sharon packs the homework away in their bags, checking for any notes and emptying out their lunch boxes. She puts the dirty containers into the dishwasher before pulling out new ones and packing their lunches for the next day. The containers go into the fridge and she wipes the kitchen down, turning the lights off as she leaves the room. Ricky slaps at his mother's hand as she playfully tugs on his hair, pulling his head back to look at him.

"You packed your lunch right?"

"Yeah," Ricky nods.

"And emptied out your other containers?"

"Yeah."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Ricky nods, slapping her hand away again. Sharon lets him go and pats him on the cheek before continuing down the couch and sinking down next to Andy. She rests her hand on his leg and squeezes his thigh as she leans into his side.

"Comfy?"

"Very," Sharon grins at him and winks. Ricky gives up on watching tv with them after a few minutes, heading to his room to work with his computer and do his homework. The twins continue to watch tv until Sharon notices Drew's eyes drooping, looking at her watch.

"Alright you two, time for bed," Sharon tells them, realizing it was getting close to their bed time. She pushes herself up off the couch and nudges them both with her feet, "Come on. Brush your teeth, make sure your clothes make it into the hamper. I'll be in in a few minutes."

"Okayyy," Libby grumbles before pushing herself up. Drew yawns as he does the same, the two of them trudging off down the hall. Sharon sighs softly as she watches them go before looking at her husband, "What about you, you ready for bed?"

"Mmm, I could hit the sack," Andy nods after some thought.

"Okay," Sharon smiles, "I'll get them settled and then join you."

"Sounds like a plan ma'am," Andy grins. Sharon winks at him and heads down the hall to check on the twins. She gets them both tucked into bed and closes their doors before checking on Ricky, finding him leaning over a math text book.

"Hey sweetie."

"Hey Mom," Ricky lifts his head and smiles at her.

"Calc?" She asks.

"Yeah," Ricky sighs and closes the book with a piece of paper keeping his place, "We have a test later this week."

"You feel good about it?"

"Yeah kind of. I was just looking over some stuff."

"Well don't stay up too late. You guys don't have to go in early, but still..."

"Dad taking us in?"

"Yeah, he has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning so he's going into work late."

"Is anything wrong?" Ricky asks with a concerned look on his face, turning to face his mother more.

"No, no, it's just a physical," Sharon smiles to reassure him. She steps into the room and presses a kiss to the top of his head before wishing him a good night and closing the door behind herself. She makes her way to the bedroom and smiles at Andy as she pushes the door closed. Frank was curled up next to him and Lyla was stretched out on her side of the bed, "Doesn't look like there's too much room for me here."

"That does look like an issue," Andy grins before ruffling the dog's fur to get her attention, "Lyla go to bed."

The dog lets out a sigh before getting up and moving to the bench at the foot of the bed, sprawling out there. Sharon smiles and turns off the light as she climbs into bed.

"Mmmm, warm sheets," She sighs as she settles. She sits up on her elbow and looks over at her husband as he reads the sports section of the paper, "You ever feel like we only meet up in bed?"

"Only meet up in bed?" Andy asks as he tosses the paper to the side.

"Yeah, like the only time we really get alone time. To talk and things," Sharon says, "I mean we go to bed at the same time as our nine year old twins."

"We have tiring jobs," Andy replies as he pulls her closer, dislodging the cat from his lap.

"We do," Sharon nods and snuggles closer to him, "We're old."

"We're not old."

"Are too," Sharon retorts, "Remember when we used to stay up until 11, and actually accomplish things after the kids went to bed."

"I do. We don't have to go to bed," Andy grins.

"Do you have some plans I don't know about?"

"I could," Andy presses his lips to hers in a deep kiss. Sharon hums and kisses him back, her arms wrapping around his neck. She presses her body against his and pulls her mouth back grinning at him.

"You always have these plans."

"Well I keep telling you, if you would stop being so beautiful..." Andy laughs as Sharon hits him in the stomach.

"I'm serious."

"So am I," Andy says as he pecks Sharon on the lips, "Shar, we used to spend that time up figuring out how we were going to pay our bills and make it to the next month with some kind of savings. Or fretting about something else. We don't need to do that stuff anymore, which leaves much more time for what I'm suggesting."

"You're still grounded," Sharon reminds him, biting his jaw.

"Oh come on," Andy groans, rocking his hips into hers, "Consider it a physical battery test. Make sure my heart's up to snuff."

"Oh stop," Sharon shakes her head with a laugh, "A physical battery test?"

"Mmhm," Andy hums, leaning in to attack her neck, "I'll even say please."

"Mmmm," Sharon hums back and sighs as she leans into his touch, "You are trouble, boy."

"You like trouble," Andy replies as he nips at her pale skin.

"I suppose I can lift your suspension," Sharon replies, pulling his head back and pressing her lips to his. She laughs as Andy rolls her onto her back, reaching out to turn off his light.

In the morning, Sharon smiles brightly at Andy as she comes out of the bedroom ready for work and finds breakfast ready on the table and the kids already eating and dressed.

"You didn't have to get up early to do this," She tells him as she wraps an arm around his waist.

"Well you did the heavy lifting last night," Andy grins and winks at her, pressing a kiss to her forehead so he doesn't mess up her lipstick.

"You think you're funny don't you?"

"I think I'm hilarious," Andy tells her before putting a plate in her hand, "Now eat."

"Thank you," Sharon replies as she takes the plate and goes to join the kids. Once she finishes eating she fills up her to-go cup and kisses the kids and her husband one last time, "Good luck at your appointment, let me know how it goes."

"I will," Andy nods, assuring her with a smile.

Sharon doesn't end up hearing from Andy all day except for a text that they had started a new case around lunch time. She doesn't see him until they run into each other in the parking garage a couple days later. Andy was headed for his fleet car and she was headed for their car, ready to head home for the night.

"Hey stranger," She calls out. Andy turns and smiles at her, stopping as he lets her catch up.

"Hey beautiful," He replies as she gets closer.

"Case going okay?"

"Yeah, just running out to follow up on some leads."

"How was your appointment the other day?" She asks.

"It went fine," He shrugs, scratching behind his ear and rolling the toothpick across his teeth.

"Andrew..."

"It did!" Andy insists, "It went fine..."

"But..."

"But...my cholesterol was a little high. And I could stand to lose a few pounds. It's not like I'm going to drop dead tomorrow."

"Don't joke about that," Sharon says as she swats at him a glare in her eyes, "Well I'm assuming you're going to be ordering out for dinner tonight, how about a salad instead of a burger hmm? We can talk about this later."

"I'll be fine," Andy tells her, "But I promise I'll try to remember to order a salad."

"You will order a salad," Sharon points her finger at him before heading towards her car, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night," Andy waves, waiting for her to head off before getting in his car.

* * *

[TBC]


	10. Chapter 10

**Note:** Slowly closing the gap on these chapter posts! Unfortunately I wasn't feeling up to writing smut for this chapter, so you'll have to forgive me for the "fade to black" we have. I hope everyone enjoys.

* * *

"Andy, you made this sound like it was a little over, it's way above what it should be," Sharon reprimands her husband as she looks at the test results from his recent doctor's visit. She sighs as she folds up the paper and tosses it onto the kitchen table, "You have a history of heart problems in your family, this is an issue."

"Shar I'm going to be fine, I'll change my diet, start working out a bit more…" Andy trails off as she gives him a look, "Okay, start working out _again_."

"You're also going to start taking more food with you to work instead of eating out with Provenza and the team so much. I don't know how any of them haven't had a heart attack with the stuff you guys eat," Sharon shakes her head as she clears their dinner plates. The kids were out at friends houses for the evening so Sharon had managed to cook them both a salmon dinner intending to get more information from her husband about his doctor's appointment. It was a pain to get him to go, and from the sounds of it she needed to push him to go more often.

Sharon gets the dishwasher loaded and turns it on before checking her watch. She turns off the kitchen lights and walks over to Andy, wrapping her arms around him from behind as she kisses his temple. He reaches up and pulls her hand to his mouth, kissing her palm.

"Hi."

"Hi," Sharon replies, pressing a kiss to the side of his neck and inhaling his scent, "I love you you know that?"

"I had an inkling," Andy replies with a smile on his face. He leans back and looks up at his wife, brown eyes staring into green, "I love you too."

"And that's why I make you go to the doctor and get on your ass about what you eat."

"I know," Andy sighs softly and shrugs, "I'll be better, I promise."

"Good," Sharon smiles at him and presses a kiss to his forehead, "Up for some exercise?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well, we have about an hour before the kids start to trickle home..." Sharon trails off with a suggestive look on her face. Andy hums and pushes away from the table before hoisting Sharon over his shoulder and heading towards their bedroom.

"ANDREW!" Sharon squeals in laughter as she flails from her new position.

"Scream as loud as you want," Andy laughs as he drops her onto the bed, "No one is going to hear you."

"As creepy as that sounded, that is the point," She tells him as she grabs his tie and drags him down to her level.

Later in the evening Sharon collapses into bed next to Andy after tucking the twins in. She burrows closer to his side and rests her head on his chest as she wraps an arm around his waist. Andy rubs his hand up and down her back through the t-shirt she had on. He looks down after a few moments, surprised when she doesn't say anything or start to relax into sleep.

"Penny for them?"

"I'm worried about Drew," Sharon admits, shifting her position slightly so she could look back up at Andy, "He was so quiet when he came home today. And that's after spending the afternoon at Carter's house."

"Maybe he was just worn out," Andy suggests.

"I don't think that's it. He's...he's been different ever since the school year started. What if something is going on at school?"

"He does great in school, all of his teachers love him. And they would have called us if something was going on. Or he would have said something. Maybe I don't know, is he old enough to be broodish from puberty?"

"Hardly," Sharon laughs softly, "Maybe you could talk to him? See if he'll say anything?"

"Sure, I'll talk to him tomorrow night after school."

"Thank you," Sharon murmurs and leans up to kiss her husband before laying her head back down and letting out a long sigh as she starts to relax, "I need to make sure I'm off the schedule for the next round of conferences, we've been slacking on going this year."

"We have such smart kids we don't need to..."

"Yes we do," Sharon replies, smacking Andy on the abs, "But we do have some pretty smart kids."

"All you," Andy grins and yawns before closing his own eyes, "All you babe."

A few weeks later, Sharon sighs as she pulls up to the pickup lane at the school. She had been running on time but got stuck behind an accident on her way over and ended up being late picking up the twins. Throwing the car in park she jumps out and heads towards the school doors, noticing a grouping of kids yelling and playing in the open yard next to the jungle gym. She reaches out to grab the door handle but pauses on her way inside as she sees a flash of familiar red hair on the ground. It's then that she notices the yelling was more jeering and the kids were all standing in a circle. Sharon lets go of the door and rushes down the steps and across the yard towards the kids.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Libby yells as she tries to jump on the older kid's back and pull him away from her brother. She gets flung off onto the ground, a puff of dirt blowing up around her. She growls and jumps back up onto her feet, running over to the kid and kicking between his legs just as the crowd begins to break up as Sharon and a couple of the nuns arrive, "I SAID LEAVE HIM ALONE."

"Elizabeth!" Sharon snaps at her daughter, pulling her back roughly before grabbing the other kid who was towering over Drew, the boy curled up on the ground.

"HEY! Let go of me."

"Knock it off!" Sharon tells him, her voice going deep and stern and she feels him go stiff. She lets him go, knowing he wouldn't dare move a finger. She turns her glare on the teachers that were reprimanding the last few kids standing around, "Get Father Daniels, now."

"Mrs. Fly…"

"Now," Sharon repeats, flashing the badge still attached to her hip, "Or I can call a patrol officer. Your choice."

"Sister Mary," The older nun nods towards the school. Sister Mary nods and heads off towards the school to retrieve the principal. Sharon kneels down next to Drew and rolls him onto his back, shushing him as he sobs.

"It's okay, honey. I'm here," Sharon whispers, checking him over. The sleeve of his polo shirt was torn and there were scuffs and scrapes on his arms and hands, his nose bloody along with his lip. How had this managed to go on long enough for Drew to get so hurt? She brushes her hand through his hair and dislodges a fair amount of dirt. She continues to console the boy as Libby squats down next to them.

"I kept telling him to leave Drew alone," Libby whispers, a waver in her voice, "He's always picking on him."

"It's okay honey," Sharon assures her daughter, turning to press a kiss to her forehead, "Why don't you go grab the first aid kit out of the car, hmm?"

"Okay," Libby takes the car keys from Sharon and runs over to the car to grab the first aid kit they kept in the trunk. She runs it back over and holds it out to Sharon. The older woman takes it and opens it up, grabbing out a few packets of gauze. She shushes Drew as she stuffs the squares of gauze under his nose before wiping off his lip and seeing if the cut needed stitches. She sits him up after determining it didn't and looks up as Father Daniels comes rushing over along with the nun that had been sent to get him.

"Mrs. Flynn! What in heavens name is going on here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me, Father. I just got here to pick up the twins from the after school program only to find Drew on the ground getting the snot beat out of him and Libby trying to fend off his attacker, a boy who by the looks of it is probably in the eighth grade. My daughter tells me that this has been a problem for a while, why haven't I heard anything about this?"

"We've sent letters home with Andrew about the matter to keep you and your husband abreast of the situation. And Mr. Matthews here is supposed to be serving a detention right now. Not out in the yard," The priest glares at the older boy, "I expect we'll be talking to your parents about this when they come to pick you up later this afternoon. Sister Mary, can you please escort Mr. Matthews to my office, please?"

"Of course, Father."

"Mrs. Flynn, please accept my sincerest apologies, it shouldn't have gotten this bad."

"A nine year old shouldn't have been expected to bring home letters of his own bullying!" Sharon retorts as she helps Drew stand up, noticing the guilty look in his eyes while getting him to hold the gauze under his nose. She closes up the first aid kit and stands herself, "And an LAPD officer shouldn't be breaking up fights on school grounds."

"Mrs. Flynn…"

"I expect that the school's _zero_ tolerance policy will be taken into account when Mr. Matthews is being punished this afternoon, or I might find myself back here with an investigatory squad and taking my children's education elsewhere."

"Now let's not be so hasty."

"Consider that while you're doling out your punishments later this afternoon," Sharon reminds him, "I expect that there will be an incident report of this if we should ever have issues in the future."

"Of course."

"Libby, where's your stuff at?" Sharon asks as she looks at her daughter and son, noticing they were sans backpacks.

"Over by the jungle gym."

"Let's go grab it," Sharon tells her as she wraps her arm around Drew and follows the girl over to where their bags were. Hers was laying in the middle of the ground while Drew's had the contents strewn about. She sighs softly and kneels down to pick everything up, jamming it back into the pack before hurrying the kids to the car. She gives Drew a new round of gauze in the back seat just in case his nose starts to bleed again before getting in the front and starting to drive home.

"I'm sorry," Drew whispers as Sharon drives.

"Honey…you have nothing to be sorry about," Sharon tells him as she looks at the both of them in the rearview mirror. She pulls into the garage a while later and follows them inside as they get out of the car. She stops Drew at the top of the stairs and checks his nose once more before sending him to take a shower. She empties out his backpack on the table and goes through, trying to put it in some semblance of order before he gets out of the shower. She finds several envelopes addressed to her and Andy from the school in the contents of the pack, opening the most rumpled one up first. She finds a letter explaining that there had been issues between Drew and other kids at school to keep Sharon and Andy aware of the situation. She opens up the other envelopes all reciting the same generic information. That Drew was being bullied in school by various students. Violence had never occurred. Just wanted them to know.

"You know you parked in the middle of the garage?" Andy calls as he walks up the stairs from the garage.

"Huh?" Sharon asks as she doesn't turn to look at him.

"You parked in the middle of the garage. What's up?" Andy asks as he puts his hands on her waist before reaching out to grab one of the letters she was holding, "Drew's being bullied?"

"Apparently for a while now," Sharon says as she sighs, "He was getting beaten up by some kid when I got there to pick them up today. Bloody nose, split lip…whole nine yards."

"What the hell were the teachers doing?"

"I don't know, smoke break?" Sharon folds up the paper in her hands and sets it aside as she continues to clean up the contents of Drew's backpack putting it on the chair, "Pretty sure I put the fear of Jesus into them. And that's saying something for a Catholic school."

"I have no doubt of that, mama bear. Is he okay? Where is he?"

"I sent him to take a shower, he was covered in dirt."

"I suppose that's what's been going on."

"Probably," Sharon grumbles, "I don't understand. I've been to that school a hundred times since the school year started, so I haven't been able to make conferences, but I've talked to his teachers. None of them said anything about him being bullied. What was the point of these letters? What were we supposed to do? Make him less bully-able?"

"I'm sure they're covering their asses for something or other."

"Well if that little jackoff doesn't get what's coming to him…"

"I think jackoff is my word."

"I'm borrowing it, I'm mad," Sharon replies, starting to fume again.

"I'm sure the kid will get whatever punishment was coming to him. If not, I'll go down and talk to them myself."

"If not, we can take our money and the kids elsewhere. I don't care how long we've been going to Saint Josephs, this is ridiculous."

"Mommy, I can't get this bandaid on," Drew says as he comes down the hallway dressed in his pajamas with damp hair. He holds up a mangled bandaid to Sharon and points to the cut on his lip.

"Oh honey, I don't think we're going to be able to put a bandaid on that," Sharon tells him as she leans down to look at his face now that it was clean.

"How you doing bud?" Andy asks as he ruffles the boy's hair. Drew shrugs and looks down at the floor. Sharon sighs and puts a hand on his back.

"Come on, we can put some cream on it so it doesn't get infected. Maybe Dad can get you some ice for your eye."

"I can do that," Andy nods and heads into the kitchen as Sharon guides Drew back down the hall. He grabs a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer and fills a small baggie with them before heading to the kids' bathroom where he could hear Sharon and Drew talking quietly, "Here bud, put this on your eye."

"This isn't ice, these are peas," Drew says as he takes the bag from Andy.

"Very astute," Andy smiles, "It'll fit your eye better than giant ice cubes would."

"Oh," Drew says, looking at the baggie before holding it to his eye, wincing at the cold, "How long do I keep it on?"

"A little while, it'll help with the swelling," Sharon tells him as she puts some ointment on the cut on his lip, earning another wince out of the boy. She wipes her finger off and puts the cap back on before putting the tube away, "I think that's the best I can do, honey."

"Thanks, Mom," Drew says quietly.

"Honey, look at me," Sharon requests as she squats down in front of the boy sitting on the closed toilet seat lid. She waits until he looks her in the eye before continuing to talk, "Is there a reason you didn't give Dad and I the letters that the school sent you home with? Or didn't say anything about kids picking on you?"

Drew shrugs and looks down again as he continues to hold the baggie of peas to his face.

"That's not really an answer, Drew."

"I didn't want to bother you," Drew whispers, his voice thick, "No one else gets picked on...I didn't want you to have to talk to Sister Agatha just cause of me."

"Baby, this has evolved a little beyond just getting picked on. That boy was beating you up," Sharon tells him, "How long has this been going on?"

"He's only hit me once before."

"He's _hit_ you before?" Andy asks.

"In gym class one time..."

"When you said you got the black eye from the ball hitting you in the face?"

"Yeah..."

"How long has he been bullying you?" Sharon clarifies.

"Since last year," Drew whispers.

"Are there other kids that pick on you?" Sharon asks. Drew nods silently, sniffling.

"Oh honey, come here," Sharon says and pulls him off of the toilet and into her arms, shushing him as he bursts into tears.

"I don't want to go to school anymore!"

* * *

[TBC]


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes:** HOLY CANNOLI! Two chapters in one week? What is this some kind of alternate universe? Haha, Just kidding. I had some free time on my hands today and thought it would be good to continue little Drew's storyline while it was still fresh. Enjoy!

* * *

Sharon sighs as she looks up at Andy with a sad look in her eyes, continuing to console Drew. She presses a kiss to the crown of his head and pushes him back slightly as he starts to work his way down to sniffles.

"Good?" She asks. Drew nods weakly and Sharon presses a kiss to his forehead before grabbing a tissue to wipe his face off with, careful of his eye and lip, "How about I make you a deal? Hmm?"

"Okay..."

"I'll call you into school tomorrow and you can stay home with me. But you have to tell me what's been going on at school and go back on Monday, okay?" Sharon offers, "I'll talk to Father Daniels when I go to pick up your sister and see if we can't work something out, but I can't do that if I don't know what's been going on, make sense?"

"Mmhm," Drew nods, rubbing his nose, "Do I have to right now?"

"Not right now, but tonight okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, we need to do something about dinner," Sharon looks at her watch as she stands up, pulling Drew with her.

"Can we order Chinese?" Drew asks as he looks up at Sharon.

"Sure baby," Sharon nods and runs her fingers through his hair gently, "Why don't you go get started on your homework and I'll have Dad call the order in."

"Okay," Drew wraps his arms around Sharon's waist and hugs her tightly before wandering down the hall towards the kitchen table where his sister was sitting and working on her homework. He unpacks the books and notebooks he needed from his backpack before climbing into a chair and opening the top book, starting to work.

Down the hall, Sharon sighs as she looks up to Andy and cleans up the bathroom.

"How did this happen to him? He's one of the sweetest kids I know, and he's being picked on and beaten up on a daily basis."

"He's...a fourth grader that does fifth grade math and reads at a sixth grade level. Kids his age don't like or understand different. And Drew is different."

"He's a nerd you mean?"

"I was trying not to use that word, but yeah...kids are going to pick on him for a while, maybe for the rest of the time he's in school..."

"Libby was standing up for him today, you know? She said she constantly tells the kid to leave him alone."

"She's got my fight and he got your brain."

"I wish, he's smarter than I ever was at that age..." Sharon shakes her head, "I'm worried."

"Hey, he has friends. He does well in school. He's not trying to terrorize us with bad behavior and being a little shit all the time."

"Oh like _your_ daughter does?"

"Exactly," Andy grins, "For a while just enjoy the positives. We made a kid that will take care of us when we're old."

"Andy," Sharon laughs and slaps him on the chest.

"Kidding, kidding."

"You better be," Sharon tells him with a narrow eyed, but teasing look, "Aren't you supposed to be ordering dinner?"

"On my way," Andy says as he presses a kiss to her forehead and squeezes her arm before heading towards the drawer of takeout menus in the kitchen. Sharon turns the light off in the bathroom and goes to their room to change into a pair of leggings and a sweater. She hears Ricky talking to Drew and Libby as she makes her way towards the dining room.

"Yo, little man, what happened to your face?" Ricky asks as he looks down at Drew.

"I got in a fight today," Drew mumbles as he looks down at his paper, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Okay, okay," Ricky acquiesces and pats Drew on the back before heading into the kitchen as he sees his mom go in as well. He leans against the counter as she busies herself with uncorking a bottle of wine.

"So what little shitstain do I need to knock around?" Ricky asks in a quiet voice.

"Richard!" Sharon cuts her eyes to him, "Language. And I will not have you beating someone up just because they beat up your brother. That starts a whole cycle and I won't have it."

"Seriously though what happened?"

"I went to go pick your brother and sister up from school and they were out in the school yard. Drew was getting the crap beat out of him and Libby was trying to get the kid to leave him alone."

"What was his name?"

"Ricky..."

"I'm not going to do anything, I just want to know who."

"His last name was Matthews, I don't know what his first name was. He looked like he could have been in eighth grade or something."

"His name is Brian Matthews," Ricky rolls his eyes and straightens up, "He _should_ be in eighth grade but he got held back last year and he already kind of sucks at reading. If anything I'd bet that he's in the same English class as Drew is some days."

"How do you know this?"

"His older brother is even dumber than he is, more violent too," Ricky says, "He's in the same grade as me by the grace of God. I don't think he's completed an assignment on his own in three years. Probably what he's teaching his brother, beat on the smart kids, make sure they're afraid of you, and they'll do your homework for you."

"And their parents are paying for this?"

"I think they're financial aid students. Live in a pretty shit neighborhood on the southeast side."

"Richard! Language!" Sharon slaps him on the arm with a newspaper.

"Sorry!" He exclaims. Sharon sighs and shakes her head, tossing the newspaper back onto the counter. She grabs a wine glass down and pours herself a generous serving before stuffing the cork back in the bottle and setting it near the bottle holder they had, "Look I'm sure you either put the fear into this kid with your Darth voice..."

"Or?"

"Or you gave him an excuse to bully Drew even more, Mommy came and saved him."

"God, what is it with kids these days?" Sharon curses under her breath before taking her glass of wine into the dining room to sit with the twins. She looks over their homework as they finish before handing it back to them. Once they're both done she tells them to clear the table and grab the dishes to set it. Andy answers the door when the delivery guy shows up, paying him for their food before bringing the bag to the table as Sharon grabs enough large spoons for their boxes.

After dinner Sharon hands Drew his fortune cookie and nods out towards the porch.

"You want to come sit outside with me?"

"Sure," Drew nods, unwrapping the cookie as he follows his mother outside. He climbs into the chair usually reserved for Andy as Sharon takes a seat in the other one. The boy curls up slightly as he tears the cookie in half, stuffing half of it into his mouth before pulling out his fortune from the other half.

"What does it say?"

"If your desires are not extravagant, they will be granted," Drew says with half full mouth.

"Mmm, what are your desires?" Sharon asks as an easy way to get the boy to open up.

"I wanna like going to school again," Drew says as he stuffs the other half in his mouth.

"You don't like going to school?" Sharon asks after he chews over most of it. Drew shrugs before he swallows and sighs.

"I like some of it..."

"Like what?"

"I like math...math is good. And when we do stuff in regular class...I don't like going to reading."

"Because Brian's there?"

"Yeah," Drew nods.

"Who else picks on you except for Brian?"

"Tommy and Sarah from my class..."

"What do they pick on you for?" Sharon prompts softly.

"Being smart. They call me a know-it-all and other stuff. Sometimes they get the other kids to ignore me..."

"Have either Tommy or Sarah physically hurt you?" She asks. Drew had come home with his fair share of bumps and bruises but figured that it was from the fact that he was nine and clumsy more than the thought that someone might be hurting him at school.

"No, they just say stuff."

"And you said Brian has hit you before?"

"Well...hit me isn't really what happened. We were outside playing kickball during recess and someone kicked the ball really far to where some of the older kids were sitting around. And instead of just throwing it back to me when I went to go get it, Brian kicked it really hard and it hit me right in the face."

"Oh honey."

"It could have been an accident, but it didn't feel like an accident."

"I know what you mean," Sharon nods.

"But before today that was the only time. I usually only see him when I go to reading class. Maybe sometimes in the hallway."

"Yeah, it's not a very big school," Sharon agrees, "Have you ever met Brian's brother? Ricky says he's in his grade."

"I've seen him, sometimes he picks on Brian and pushes him around. I think his name's Todd or something like that," Drew shrugs, finding the information unimportant.

"Honey, why didn't you tell your father and me about this?" Sharon asks as she leans forward in her chair to make eye contact with Drew, "I can't do anything to help a situation I know nothing about."

"I don't want you to have to stand up for me..."

"Honey, that's part of my job as your mother is to stand up for you and protect you."

"You don't have to do that for Ricky and Libby. They stand up for themselves just fine. You never have to come to the school because they're getting picked on or ignored."

"No I don't, but you guys are all different. Because I don't have to do that for Ricky and Libby doesn't mean I don't have to do other things for them."

"I didn't want to be a burden."

"Baby," Sharon says before scooting closer and taking Drew's hands in hers, "You are never, ever going to be a burden to me or your father. All I want you to do is be you. And if that means that I have to make a couple extra trips to the school or talk to your teacher's that's fine. That's our job as your parents. Do not think less of yourself just because you have different problems than your sister or brother. I know for a fact that Ricky was picked on when he was about your age. And so was Emily. Kids can be mean when they are afraid of someone who is different or if they have a bad home life or maybe they're just mean spirited people. But never feel bad about being who you are."

"Can I switch classes? I wanna be in Libby's class," Drew asks.

"I'm going to talk to Father Daniels tomorrow afternoon and I'll see if we can't do something to make the situation a little better for you hmm?" Sharon suggests, "But your dad and I and your siblings are always going to be here if you need someone to talk to okay?"

"Okay," Drew nods.

"And you'll tell me when this happens?"

"Mmhm," Drew nods again. Sharon holds her arms out to him, pulling him into a tight hug. She presses a kiss to his forehead and squeezes him tight.

"I love you so much, my bright little boy."

"I love you too, Mom," Drew replies as he wraps his arms around Sharon and hugs her back, "Can I have your fortune cookie?"

"Sure," Sharon laughs as she pulls back. She takes the boy back inside and locks the sliding glass door before putting the rod they had into the sliding track. She pulls the curtains closed and walks into the kitchen, digging through the paper bag of sauces and silverware for another fortune cookie, handing it to Drew when she comes up victorious, "Here you go."

"Thanks," Drew smiles and runs off to watch TV with his sister. Sharon tops off her wine glass a little before going to find her husband, finding him in the den watching the Dodger game. She sinks down next to him and takes a sip out of her glass, waiting for a commercial to talk.

"So how's he doing?" Andy asks first as he mutes the TV.

"He seems to be doing better than earlier. Apparently a couple other kids in his class have been picking on him as well. He said he wants to switch over to Libby's class...I'm going to talk to the Father about it tomorrow when I go in to talk to him. And apparently Brian's brother bullies him, which is probably trickling down to Drew to some degree."

"Yeah there's a difference between picking on and bullying and I'm pretty sure that kid's been bullying Drew."

"Kicked a ball in his face one time," Sharon shares with a roll of her eyes, "I'm glad Ricky knew something or we'd be going into this completely blind."

"So what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to talk to Father Daniels tomorrow, see if we can't figure something out that takes Drew out of the line of fire a bit. As for you, I just need you to keep being a great father and listening to Drew when he has problems. He knows he can come to us now if he needs help."

"Sure you don't want me to scare the little shit? Put him in the back of a cop car for a little bit?"

"No," Sharon draws the word out, "That's exactly what I don't want you to do."

"Oh alright," Andy groans playfully. Sharon presses a soft kiss to his lips and rests her head on his shoulder.

"How are we doing?"

"Down two runs, but it's the fifth so we could pick that up," Andy says as he unmutes the tv to turn his attention back to the game. Sharon leaves after she finishes her glass of wine and notices it was time to get the twins into bed. She walks upstairs and her heart melts a little bit as she sees Drew fast asleep, burrowed into his older brother's side.

"Hey, he fell asleep during Battlestar…"

"That's okay," Sharon waves him off. She takes her glass to the kitchen and puts it into the sink before coming back out and nudging Libby off to bed, "Do you think you could carry him?"

"Sure, no problem," Ricky says, shifting his position on the couch before lifting his brother up into his arms. He carries him down the hallway to his room and lays him down in bed after Sharon pulls the covers back. She pulls them back up to cover the boy and presses a soft kiss to his forehead.

"Thank you."

"Sure," Ricky nods, "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine, I just need to talk to the school and I think he needs a little more confidence in standing up to people."

"How are you going to do that?"

"That's a good question," Sharon sighs, "I don't know."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," Ricky pats his mom on the back before kissing her cheek, "I'm going to head to my room."

"Alright, don't stay up too late," She smiles at him before going to check on Libby and tuck her in.

In the morning, Sharon sends Libby and Ricky to school with Andy before going to make breakfast for herself and Drew. The boy was lounging on the couch in his pajamas, flipping through the tv channels as he looked for something to watch. The two spend the day together lazing around the house and watching movies. By the time two o'clock rolls around Sharon makes her way down the hall to get dressed so she can go pick Ricky and Libby up from school. She gets Drew to put on a real pair of pants before ushering the boy out to the car so they can make it to the school in a decent amount of time. She pulls into the parking lot a little before school lets out and walks inside with Drew, heading to the principal's office. She tells him to wait in a chair as she makes her way back to Father Daniels' office.

"Father?" Sharon knocks softly on the doorjam. Father Daniels looks up from his desk and smiles, beckoning Sharon in.

"Mrs. Flynn, please come in."

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Sharon says as she takes a seat in front of the desk, "I just wanted to follow up on yesterday and everything that happened."

"Of course, completely understandable. I want you to know that I've spoken with Sister Mary and Sister Josephine on expectations when students are out in the yard and on the playground, that they need to be monitored constantly and not left alone at any time. This has been reiterated to other staff as well."

"That's good to know. And Mr. Matthews?"

"Mr. Matthews has been reprimanded. He'll be serving an in school suspension of one week and I have warned the upper school teachers of his behavior, that a little bit closer of an eye should be kept on him."

"What about his older brother? Todd I believe his name is?"

"What about Todd Matthews?" Father Daniels asks, leaning forward with more interest.

"I'm concerned that there's a bit of a cycle going on there from what I've heard from both Ricky and Drew. Todd bullies Brian and other kids, maybe even gets them to do some assignments for him, because of this Brian bullies others because he himself is being bullied. I'm assuming their home life isn't exactly stable?"

"Mrs. Flynn, unfortunately I cannot discuss with you…"

"Of course, of course. I'm not here in a professional capacity. But I did feel that these things should be brought up, maybe to prevent other kids from getting hurt. That maybe there's something going on there that extends beyond what's going on in the classroom."

"I will make note of it and look into it a little more."

"Good," Sharon offers a relatively fake smile, "There are two other kids that have been bothering Drew, in his class. He said a Tommy and Sarah."

"Tommy Rasmussen and Sarah Quall. I hadn't seen any notes of it while looking through Drew's files. He mentioned this to you?"

"Last night. I don't know that it's gone to full blown bullying but they have been picking on him," Sharon tells him, "Enough that Drew wants to move to Libby's class to get away from them."

"I can speak with Sister Agatha and see if there's more information I can get on this, perhaps have a talk with the kids about how they should treat their peers. You know how kids get at this age, such a tumultuous time in their lives."

"I do, I've raised four of them past it already, and they didn't see the need to pick on or be rude to any other classmates, older or younger, or even the same age," Sharon retorts. She stands and gathers her purse from the floor, hiking it over her shoulder, "Father, if I may offer a suggestion, I would rethink your staff training around recognizing and reporting these events that are happening in and out the classroom. I can forward you some brochures on some area educators that put on some informative seminars on the topics."

Realizing that Sharon's offer was not a suggestion Father Daniels nods as he looks at the woman in front of him. For his entire time at the school Father Daniels had known Sharon Flynn to be a doting mother that tried to attend all of the events that she could, was relatively involved in the PTA, and for the most part, quiet and complacent. If only he had known…

"Thank you for coming by Mrs. Flynn."

"Of course Father, it was my pleasure. I look forward to the improvements that are going to be made here," Sharon again offers a completely plastic smile before moving to leave the room. She turns back in the doorway and looks at the man again, "Oh, and Father…I would suggest to Sister Catherine that she not seat the twins together. They can get pretty chatty when left to their own devices."

* * *

[TBC]


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes:** Covering Closer episodes "Overkill" and "Serving the King, pt 1 & 2". Little bit more of a dialogue heavy just kind of stringing that series of episodes together.

* * *

Sharon sighs softly as she lies on top of her husband, listening to his heart beat as he rubs his hand up and down her back.

"You comfy?"

"Very," Sharon whispers with a small smile. She had spent most of the evening talking to Emily on the phone but had been a little clingy afterwards once Andy had climbed into bed with her.

"You okay?"

"I'm great," Sharon replies as she lifts her head and rests her chin on his sternum, looking up at him, "I just miss Em, you know that."

"I know," Andy nods.

"I'm glad we got to talk to her tonight though, it really sounds like she's having fun and learning a lot."

"They all sound like that at first. Soon they're not going to chemistry class cause they're sleeping off a bender."

"Do you know something about our daughter that I don't?" Sharon arches her eyebrow. Andy laughs and shakes his head.

"I'm just yanking your chain," He admits. Sharon slaps him on the side and pinches him.

"Mean."

"I know I'm so terrible, letting you lay on top of me and cuddle me," Andy grins and pats her on the back. He liked these moments that he got with her, just enjoying each other.

"You are. How about we get lunch tomorrow? Hmm? Barring any unforeseen circumstances I'm going to have a light day."

"We could do that," Andy smiles, "We haven't had lunch together in a while."

Andy groans as his phone starts to ring, reaching blindly for the bedside table. He finds the offending device after a moment and opens it up before lifting it to his ear, "Flynn…yeah…mmhm…out where…yeah I'll be about half an hour..alright, bye."

"Gotta go?" Sharon pouts.

"Yeah, caught a case, double homicide."

"Well, if you end up being free, come by around 1130? And we can walk somewhere."

"Mexican?" Andy asks as he gets up out of bed and goes to freshen up real quick.

"That does sound good," Sharon agrees, speaking louder as he heads into the bathroom, "That little cantina a few blocks away?"

"Sounds like a date," Andy smiles before going into the closet and changing his shirt and tie. He yawns as he cinches up his tie, running his fingers through his hair and grabbing his suit jacket. He grabs his stuff from the top of the dresser before dropping a kiss on Sharon's forehead, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow, love you."

"Love you too," Andy replies with a wink.

In the morning, Sharon looks away from the paperwork in front of her and at her watch to check the time before looking up as Andy leans into her office. Her eyes widen and she smiles at him, eyeballing him in his suit.

"Hello, you're rather early."

"I am, but unfortunately I've got to do some babysitting today," Andy says as holds onto the door jam, stretching out his arms, "So I'm not going to be able to do lunch."

"Babysitting?"

"Witness from the case last night," Andy tells her with a shrug, "I might be able to get dinner if you want me to text you."

"No, I _have_ to go to conferences tonight. Have to, have to."

"Okay, let me know if they say anything hmm? Drew says things have been better since he moved to Lib's class."

"I will," Sharon nods, "I guess I'll maybe see you later tonight."

"Maybe," Andy shrugs again and winks at her with a smile before leaving her office to meet up with Provenza so they could go babysit their witness.

Andy doesn't get a chance to stop by and see Sharon for the rest of their case before they reach their unfortunate climax. He finds himself reaching for his side arm as the gun comes out of Provenza's drawer and gets pointed at the FBI agent. Two shots, the FBI agent goes down. Two shots, Fritz throws Brenda to the floor and he hits the deck. One shot, Pope dives out of the way. He can barely hear himself think as he steps forward towards Provenza and Marty. He can feel himself talking, his eyes already lining up the shot. It's not one he should take as the man starts to back out of the room, but Provenza's his best friend. He hears Julio from behind them. Three shots, Marty drops to the ground. Two shots, he's out completely.

Andy wiggles his finger in his ear as the team stands around looking at each other. His ears were ringing a little from all of the shots in the room. He holsters his weapon and drops into his chair, his eyes connecting with Provenza's. This wasn't going to end well.

It's three hours before they're let go for the evening, Brenda and Provenza held behind with the feds. Andy groans as he walks across the quiet lobby of the Parker Center, the only sound for a moment being the wood of his shoe heels hitting the ground. He looks up as he hears stilettos clacking against the ground quickly before practically getting bowled over by his wife.

"Hey…" He sighs as he wraps his arms around her.

"You haven't been answering my calls. The entire third floor is blocked off. I…" Sharon rattles off in a nervous voice. Andy pats himself down looking for his phone before sighing.

"It must have fallen out of my pocket during the shooting," He says with a shake of his hand, "I'll have to look for it tomorrow."

"Are you okay?!" Sharon practically yells.

"I'm fine," Andy replies, "I'm fine. Cut it a little close, but I'm fine."

"God, I really want to hit you right now."

"What? Why?"

"We're a floor away from each other. I can hear you chase a suspect around in circles you don't think I can hear gunshots? I've been worried sick for hours!"

"It's not like I was planning on getting shot at and losing my phone," Andy grumps, "Why are you even here? I thought you were going to conferences."

"I had to come back and pick up some files I forgot…I was just getting ready to leave when I heard the shots," Sharon explains. She sighs and wraps her arms around him again in a tight hug. Andy presses a kiss to her hair and rubs her back.

"Come on, let's go home."

It's only a few weeks later when Andy finds himself about ready to throw the towel in on the LAPD. Provenza and Brenda were on leave pending the completion of the federal investigation. Tao had been transferred back to SID, Daniels was helping out with Homeland Security. And he…he was being subjected to the wrath of Taylor once again.

"I honestly don't even know why I go to work anymore," Andy grumbles as he ties his tie with a ferocity that should be reserved for undressing, "You know I might actually fucking cut Taylor one of these days if he gets on another nerve of mine."

"I'm surprised you have any left," Sharon calls from the bathroom as she works on her makeup, "You went from being all in a tizzy about her alleged affair with Pope, to the shooting, to this. You've been on edge for weeks."

"Oh, I'm fucking over it," Andy growls as he straightens his tie before pulling on his suit coat. He leaves the closet and slaps the light off on his way out before going to the bathroom to put on his cologne.

"You need to take some time. Or you are really going to burn yourself out."

"I'll ask next week."

"You've been saying that since the shooting," Sharon reminds him as she looks at him in the mirror, twisting her lipstick down into the tube.

"I will."

"Please," Sharon says as she smoothes down his tie before pecking him quickly on his lips.

"I will."

"I suppose it's not worth it to say have a good day?"

"Not really."

"Well, try at least," Sharon says before giving him another kiss. Andy sighs and presses a kiss to her forehead before grabbing the rest of his things to head to the office. The only way his day was going to look up was if Brenda was magically cleared from her investigation and showed up at work. He was very certain Taylor was going to piss him off once again today.

For Andy to say he wasn't surprised when Provenza contacted him for help on an undercover case with Brenda, would have been a lie. To find out that it was the case that he had been trying to work under Taylor earlier in the day was even more of a surprise. But he'd gone along with it anyway, if only to get some enjoyment out of his day.

"I'll be late tonight," Andy says as he talks on his phone, looking at Provenza and Brenda, "No, no…don't wait up. I don't know how long I'll be…I love you too."

"I love you too…" Provenza mocks.

"Oh shut up," Andy rolls his eyes before tucking his phone into his pocket as they continue their trip to the development, "At least I have someone to call to tell I'll be late. Who are you going to call? Your value bag of potato chips?"

"You wound me."

"Oh! You two are children."

"That's what my wife tells us, I don't see it," Andy jokes before the car gets parked and the three of them get out.

It takes them two more days before Brenda's back at the office. Sharon's happy to see a little pep in his step as he gets ready that morning, deciding to go with one of his three piece suits as well as his mint green shirt. It was a combination she enjoyed on him. She takes the time to do his tie for him, tugging him down playfully to kiss him.

"Mmm."

"See it's nice when you're in a good mood," Sharon reminds him before kissing him once more before straightening him up, "Even though I know you've been up to no good the last couple days."

"Oh do you?"

"Mmm," Sharon hums with an arched eyebrow, "You've been peppy since before Brenda got her job back. Which means you were doing something you liked. Which means you weren't with Taylor."

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," Andy murmurs as he wraps an arm around her waist before pulling her closer.

"Oooh!" Sharon playfully swoons, "You know, when we retire…you'll have to tell me about all of the shenanigans that you got up to that I didn't know about."

"It's a date," Andy smiles and presses a kiss to her forehead before letting her go, "I gotta go."

"Have a good day," Sharon tells him, smacking him on the ass on his way out of the closet before going after him, "Oh! Andy. You do actually need to ask for some time off. Next month, the weekend of the 25th. It's Emily's first performance. I'm buying the tickets tonight after I get off work."

"Next month, the 25th. I'll put in the request."

"Thank you."

* * *

[TBC]


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes:** One step forward two steps back. I had the majority of this written for a while before I went on vacation but wasn't sure how to tie it up. I had some time during a layover today and thought I'd take a stab at it. Enjoy!

* * *

"Alright, I'm trusting you to watch your brother and sister while we're gone," Sharon tells Ricky as he sits at the dining room table working on his homework with Libby and Drew, "I know it's only going to be a weekend, but we _are_ going to be in New York."

"It'll be fine. We got movies and groceries tonight, they have to finish their homework before we can do anything, I have money to order dinner for Saturday, and you'll be back on Sunday. And I can call Aunt Andrea or Uncle Gavin if I have any issues. _Not_ that I should have any."

"I know, I just worry. It's the first time we've had you do this and haven't been at work," Sharon sighs, "I'm your mother I'm allowed to worry."

"Worry all you want mom, we're going to be fine," Ricky assures her, "Now you better get going or you're going to miss your flight."

"Alright, alright, last hugs," Sharon says, giving Ricky a big squeeze before hugging each of the twins and pressing kisses to their foreheads, "Be good for your brother. We'll see you Sunday."

"Bye!" Libby chirps with an enthusiastic wave as they head out the front door to meet the cab that was waiting for them. Andy puts the bags in the trunk before opening the door to the back seat for Sharon. She smiles at him before climbing inside and sliding over to the driver's side. She buckles her seatbelt as he gets situated before the driver confirms that they were going to the airport.

"Yeah, terminal...4," Andy confirms after looking at the tickets in his pocket. He winks at Sharon before tucking the tickets back in place, reaching over to grab her hand, "They're going to be fine you know."

"I know, I know," She sighs before smiling wider again, "And I get you to myself almost the entire weekend."

"That you do," Andy grins, giving her hand a squeeze, "So what's the plan?"

"By the time we get there it'll be way past our bed time, so we'll go to the hotel and check in. We can have a bit of a lie in if we'd like, Emily said she wasn't going to be available to meet us until lunch time, so I thought we'd meet up then, we could take her somewhere nice. Then we have to drop her off at the theater where the performance is, they're doing rehearsal before the show, which leaves us enough time to come back to the hotel, get ready, and go to dinner before we go back to the theater for the performance," Sharon explains, "My parents were going to try to make it down to watch as well, I haven't heard anything about it lately so I'll have to give them a call tomorrow. Are any of your sisters coming?"

"I know Soph is, she said she got tickets. Katie was supposed to be getting tickets but I haven't heard anything lately."

"Well if you talk to them tomorrow and find out we can get there a little early and save some seats," Sharon tells him as she plays with his fingers.

"I will call them in the morning before we head out for the day," Andy assures her with a small smile. Sharon smiles back and leans over to kiss him.

"Sounds perfect," She murmurs. The rest of the ride to the airport is passed in a comfortable silence. Once they reach LAX she pays the driver as Andy gets their bags out of the trunk, putting his duffel bag on top of her rolling suitcase. He takes her hand as the driver pulls away and walks into the airport with her, heading towards the security lines since they'd already checked in online and didn't want to check their bags. They make their way through security without incident before heading for their gate.

"You hungry?" Andy asks as they start to come upon a strip of food vendors.

"I could eat," Sharon smiles, "I didn't get much for dinner."

"Burgers?" Andy indicates the restaurant ahead. Sharon nods and follows him into the small restaurant, snagging a table that had just opened. The two eat a quick dinner before finishing their trip to their gate, making it just as the first boarding calls are made. Sharon yawns once they get to their seats, slipping her purse under the seat in front of her. Her book ends up in her lap but she never opens the cover as she settles against Andy's shoulder and closes her eyes, dozing off before they even get off the ground.

Once in New York the two take a cab to their hotel and Andy gets them checked in before leading his now wide awake wife upstairs. He drops the bags onto the luggage rack before unzipping his and starting to look through it for his pajama pants. Sharon slips behind him and wraps her arms around his waist as he searches. Her cheek presses to his back as her hands fiddle with his belt buckle.

"Can I help you?" Andy questions teasingly.

"Most likely," Sharon replies, starting to pry the belt open. Once she has it apart her hands slip down to cup him through his jeans, squeezing him gently. Andy groans and his hands still.

"You're making this really difficult."

"You could make it easier," Sharon says as she continues to tease him, "Or harder, depending which way you look at it."

Andy abandons his bag and turns around in his wife's hold, finding her eyes dark with desire as she stares up at him with an entirely too innocent look on her face.

"But if you don't want to..." She trails off.

"You know damn well I want to," Andy growls, walking her back towards the bed. Sharon grins and presses her lips to his, moaning as he pushes her onto the bed and falls down with her.

In the morning Sharon groans as sunlight pierces right into her eyes through the open curtains across the room. She lifts a hand to cover her eyes as the other reaches out to feel the other side of the bed, surprised to find it empty and cold. Her eyes flick towards the door as she hears the key in the lock. She pulls the sheet up around her chest before relaxing when Andy comes in holding two to go boxes in his free hand.

"Hi," She greets in a soft tone before moving to sit up against the headboard.

"Hey," Andy smiles. He kicks off his shoes before climbing into bed next to her and offering one of the containers, "Got you breakfast, figured you'd be hungry."

"You figured correctly," Sharon smiles before leaning over to kiss him. She pops the top of her container open, groaning softly when she finds a bagel with lox inside, "You are a saint, Andrew Flynn."

"Anything for my beautiful wife," Andy grins and presses a kiss to the side of her forehead when she blushes, "Why do you always blush when I tell you you're beautiful?"

"I turn fifty next year, I've given birth to four children, I am amazed you still find me attractive," Sharon admits after chewing over her first bite of the bagel.

"I'm hardly what I was twenty years ago, but that's what I agreed to when I married you, growing old together. Though I don't know when we're going to get to that old part," Andy grins, drawing a small laugh from Sharon, "I've seen you at your worst and I've seen you at your best. And you know what my favorite is?"

"What?" Sharon asks, honestly curious.

"This," Andy murmurs as he trails his fingers down her bare arm, "All tumbled up, bare faced, thoroughly... _loved_."

"Who flipped your charm switch this morning, hmm?" Sharon shivers as he takes his hand in hers and presses a kiss to the palm of her hand.

"You. You are a beautiful, sexy, thrill of a drug, babe," Andy tells her and kisses her shoulder.

"You're not too bad yourself," Sharon grins and kisses his forehead, resting her head against his. She offers him a bite of her bagel and laughs as he wrinkles his nose and shakes his head. She finishes the bagel and puts the container onto the bedside table before slipping out from under the sheets and offering a hand to her husband.

"Where are you going?"

"Shower," Sharon tells him. Andy takes her hand and rolls out of the bed before following her to the bathroom. By the time the two of them are out of the bathroom and ready to go for the day it left them just enough time to walk to Emily's dorm and pick her up for lunch. Sharon slings her purse over her shoulder and digs her cell phone out, "I'm going to call Ricky and see how everything is going."

"Should be up by now," Andy comments as he looks at his watch, figuring it was getting close to 9 in LA.

"Should being the operative word," Sharon laughs as she hits the speed dial for the house before holding the phone to her ear. She grabs Andy's hand as they make their way outside, waiting for Ricky to pick up. She frowns when the phone rings through to the answering machine, "Richard this is your mother, you better be out of bed. Call me."

"He didn't pick up?"

"N..." The phone starts to ring and Sharon glances at the number, "That's him."

"Hey Mom, sorry I was downstairs and missed the phone."

"That's okay, we're just heading to get your sister for lunch so I thought I'd see how everything is going."

"Fine, Libby's friend Danielle was going to pick her up to go to the movies later this morning, is that okay?"

"That's fine, do you have any cash?"

"Yeah a bit."

"Give her a twenty and I'll pay you back when we get home, okay?" Sharon tells him.

"Sure."

"What about Drew?"

"We were going to hang out and do some guy things."

" _Guy things_?"

"Mostly just playing video games. Maybe a movie. It's pretty nice out today, maybe take a couple laps of the neighborhood on his bike," She can almost hear her son shrug as he describes what they may do with their day, "I don't know, we'll play it by ear."

"Okay, we'll be around if you need anything."

"10-4," Ricky responds and Sharon laughs and shakes her head.

"Bye, honey."

"Bye, mom," Sharon flips the phone shut and tucks it back in her purse as they continue down the sidewalk.

"House still standing?"

"Enough that the phone line is still connected," Sharon smiles, pointing across the street to the dorm that Emily was living in, "I'll call and let her know outside."

"Sounds good," Andy replies before guiding his wife across the street in the midday traffic. They walk up to the building and make their way inside to wait for Emily in the lobby.

"She should be down in a second, she was just grabbing her jacket," Sharon explains, "What were you thinking for lunch?"

"Whatever Em wants, I'm up for anything," Andy shrugs as he tucks his hands into the pockets of his jeans. A few moments later Emily emerges from the elevator with a gaggle of students on their way out as well. She drops her bag before she jumps into her father's arms and wraps her arms around his neck.

"Dad!"

"Hey Em!" Andy stumbles back a step before catching her and wrapping his arms around her to stop her from tumbling down. Emily presses a kiss to his cheek before turning around and wrapping her mom in a huge hug.

"I'm so glad you guys are here!" Emily squeals as she squeezes her mother tight.

"I'm so glad to see you honey," Sharon murmurs as she hugs her daughter close, so glad to finally see her. She holds onto her for a few moments before letting go and smiling at her as she brushes her hair out of her face, "You're doing okay?"

"I love it!" Emily grins, "You guys hungry?"

"Starving," Andy butts in, "What sounds good to you?"

"There is a really good thai place, couple blocks away if you're up for it?" Emily suggests.

"Sure, thai sounds great," Andy smiles before wrapping his arm around Emily's shoulders and guiding her out of the dorm lobby. Sharon grabs her bag and reaches out as Andy reaches for her, tugging her closer as they walk, "Which way am I going?"

"Left!" Emily instructs with a flung out arm.

"Left it is," Andy turns them and Sharon laughs as she stumbles slightly. She leans into her husband and shivers as a breeze hits her in the face. Winter was coming for the northeast, and she did not miss it in the least.

After a nice lunch with Emily and a walk around the area and campus, they walk the girl to the theater where her performance was being held later in the afternoon. Sharon hands over her ballet bag with a smile, "We'll be back later tonight. Your grandparents are coming, and Aunt Sophia also. You'll come out after and say hi?"

"Of course."

"Good," Sharon smiles and kisses her daughter's forehead, "Break a leg honey."

"Thanks, Mom," Emily smiles with a blush on her cheeks. Sharon and Andy watch as she makes her way into the theater before turning to head back towards their hotel. Sharon lets out a sigh as she watches Emily confidently make her way into the theater, leaning into her husband's hold a little.

"She's doing so well."

"Of course she is. She's her mother's daughter," He comments as he presses a kiss to the crown of her head, squeezing her close for a moment, "Come on. We need to get back."

"Need to is a bit strong," Sharon comments as she turns around in his hold.

"I made some reservations last night after you fell asleep," He tells her, "We don't have a ton of time to make it though."

"You made reservations?"

"I did," Andy smiles, "Quiet little Italian place, perfect place for us to grab a cab after also."

"Sneaky, Mr. Flynn."

"When I want to be, Mrs. Flynn," Andy grins. Sharon shoves him playfully before taking his hand and heading back towards the hotel with him. The two get ready for dinner in a well perfected dance of moving around each other and in and out of the bathroom. By the time they're done Sharon has her hair up in a twist and is dressed in a long sleeve, flowing, knee length, black dress with black heels. Andy cinches a deep purple tie around his neck before buttoning his suit jacket and running his fingers through his hair, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Sharon smiles and shrugs on her pea coat before following her husband down to the lobby. He hails a cab for them and once their inside gives the driver the restaurant name. She watches as the lights pass during their drive, only snapping out of her reverie when they stop. Andy jogs around to her side of the car, opening the door for her. She smiles and takes his hand as she gets out, shutting the door behind herself.

Inside Sharon looks around the small restaurant, only counting twenty tables or so with a small band setting up in the corner. The lights were down low and there were candles on each individual table, highlighting the rustic feel of the decor. She starts a little as she feels Andy's hand on the small of her back, smiling up at him as they follow the host to their table.

"I'm surprised you were able to get reservations on such short notice."

"Pulled a few strings?"

"Oh?" She questions as he pulls her chair out for her.

"For you, anything," He murmurs in her ear as he pushes her in. He steps around to the other side of the table and takes his seat, grinning at her as he opens the menu. Andy continues to tease Sharon throughout dinner, leaving her thrumming by the time they leave the restaurant to go hail a cab to the theater.

"What is with you?" She asks as he wraps his arm around her and holds her close, protecting her from the cold wind, "Not that I mind."

"What? A guy can't treat his wife to a nice weekend in New York?"

"Well a guy can, but you…" Sharon teases as she looks up at her husband. They'd been married almost 15 years. The romance wasn't dead but it wasn't like they had just gotten together either. Careers, kids, pets, age all put a little damper on things. Which was why she had a tendency to get suspicious when Andy would start pulling out all the stops.

"I can make you walk to the theater you know," Andy bites back playfully.

"Oh, I bet," Sharon laughs. Andy grins and shrugs, kissing her on the lips, but doing it quick enough not to mess up her makeup.

"We have a weekend semi alone. I thought we could take some time and enjoy it a little," He explains. Sharon smiles and kisses him back softly.

"You're so sweet sometimes."

"Sometimes!? That's all I get is a sometimes."

"Well you can also be a right ass too," Sharon smiles with a gleam in her eyes.

"You're lucky I married you, no one else would be able to handle that tongue."

"You like my tongue," Sharon tells him with a wink before getting into the cab as it pulls up to the curb. Andy shakes his head, trying to clear all of the dirty thoughts that had plagued him at her response before climbing into the car. Sharon gives the driver the address of the theater before resting her hand on Andy's leg. Turnabout was usually fair play.

Once they get to the theater Andy pays the driver before struggling to get out of the car, glaring at Sharon as she laughs at him. She slips out of the car easily and shuts the door before grinning widely at him as they stand on the curb.

"Don't forget we're meeting _your_ parents here," He warns her before they make their way inside. Sharon hands over their tickets and they head down into the auditorium, looking for a row of seats long enough to accommodate their entire family. She points to a row and counts out the seats before plopping in the far one and indicating Andy to sit in the first one. Thankfully not too many more people show up before their family starts to filter in.

By the time the theater really starts to fill in they're just waiting for her parents. As she's looking around Sharon spots her mother and raises her hand to indicate where they were. Mary makes her way over with Bill, Sam pulling up the rear behind them. Her eyebrow raises slightly as she sees the girl. Last time she'd heard the two of them had gotten into a fight and weren't talking. She wasn't expecting her to show up tonight and hadn't calculated her in when saving seats. Sharon slips out of her seat and stands to greet her parents, hugging both of them before hugging Sam.

"I wasn't expecting you tonight," Sharon tells her as she steps back while Mary and Bill slip in to their seats.

"I didn't know if I was going to make it," Sam shrugs, "I wasn't able to get a bus ticket down and none of my friends were coming into the city this weekend. I hope it's okay I called your parents to see if they were coming."

"Of course not," Sharon assures her. Sam had gone on vacation with them to visit her parents and spent enough time around them she knew it wouldn't be a bother to them to drive to New Haven to pick her up, "Does Em know you're coming?"

"Not exactly," Sam blushes and looks down, "I bought the ticket before we got in our fight, but I wanted to see her dance. She's my best friend you know?"

"Oh I know all too well," Sharon tells her having experience much the same issue a few times with Andy, "Let me see if we can scoot a little bit and get you a seat."

"It's okay, I can sit in this one," Sam indicates an empty seat right in front of her and Andy's seats.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Sam nods and gives Sharon a reassuring smile. Sharon smiles back before letting the girl sit down and slipping back to her spot next to Andy. He turns his head and leans closer to her ear so he didn't have to speak loudly at all.

"I thought they weren't talking to each other," He whispers. She shrugs as she looks over at him before looking up as the lights dim, indicating the show was about to start. During the show, Sharon's face lights up every time she sees Emily spin and twirl across the stage. She holds her breath as she leaps and only lets it out when her toes successfully touch the ground and she effortlessly transitions into another movement.

At the end of the performance the entire auditorium is on their feet applauding the dancers as they take their final bows. Sharon notices Sam alternating between clapping and wiping at her eyes as she stands in front of them. Soon people start to empty out of the theater and she stops Sam with a hand on her shoulder.

"Em's going to be out here in a second," She tells her with a supportive smile.

"Right," Sam nods. She lingers around as the family consults each other on how well Emily and the other dancers had done during the performance. Sharon keeps her eyes on her as they talk, making sure that she was okay. She raises her hand when she sees Emily step out from back stage, still dressed in her unitard with a pair of sweatpants over the top. The girl grins and waves back before bouncing her way over. Part of the way over the extra pep in her step turns into a full on run as she spots Sam standing behind her parents with her hands stuffed in her pockets.

"Sam!" Emily shouts, practically shoving her father out of the way as she all but tackles her girlfriend, both of them easily tumbling to the floor as Sam loses her footing from the all out assault. Emily braces herself against the ground and immediately claims Sam's lips in a kiss, deepening it to a level that was most likely not appropriate in front of her parents and grandparents. After a few moments, Andy clears his throat a little loudly and Emily pulls away, grinning down at her girlfriend, "You came."

"Of course I came," Sam replies and wraps her arms around Emily, crushing her close to her body, "I love you."

"I love you too," Emily mumbles, "I'm sorry."

"Me too."

* * *

[TBC]


End file.
